“I appreciate how hard our guys played all year, how they never gave up all year, but we didn’t get to where we wanted,” Girardi said. “We lost the first round of the playoffs. We got beat by a very good pitcher that we didn’t seem to solve last year — and you know what? We’re probably going to see him opening day.”

That pitcher is Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros, who visit the Bronx on April 4. Keuchel won the American League Cy Young Award last season and pitched 232 innings. The Astros’ No. 2 starter, Collin McHugh, also topped 200 innings. The Yankees do not have pitchers like that.

They have Masahiro Tanaka, who had a bone spur removed from his elbow in October and said Thursday that he wanted to pitch 200 innings. Girardi said Luis Severino, the dynamic right-hander who turns 22 this weekend, could also pitch 200 innings. It is a good plan, but not easy; no Yankee has reached that amount since 2013.

To help the wobbly rotation, the Yankees strengthened their bullpen by trading for closer Aroldis Chapman, available at a reduced price because the threat of a suspension hangs over him. Chapman was cleared of criminal charges for an allegation of domestic violence in October, and he vowed through an interpreter Thursday to appeal any possible suspension by Major League Baseball.