Rising Rodríguez entering Rays' circle of trust

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. PETERSBURG -- With most of their Trade Deadline moves, the Rays were thinking a step ahead about who might step in.

Aaron Civale was quickly replaced in the rotation by Shane Baz. Phil Maton’s exit made room for Manuel Rodríguez. Zach Eflin went out, and Jeffrey Springs came in. Randy Arozarena was traded, and Dylan Carlson was acquired.

Christopher Morel was part of the Rays’ return for Isaac Paredes. Before being optioned to Triple-A on Thursday, Hunter Bigge pitched in some lower-leverage spots and opened a game, essentially the role Shawn Armstrong held before he was traded to the Cardinals. Drew Rasmussen returned from the injured list on Wednesday to give Tampa Bay another flame-throwing, one/two-inning bullpen arm.

But who would step into the high-leverage, late-inning role left vacant when Jason Adam was dealt to San Diego? The way things have gone lately, it looks like Rodríguez.

Consider the 28-year-old right-hander’s three most recent appearances:

? Last Saturday, with the Rays up by three runs in Houston, Rodríguez handled the seventh inning and struck out all three batters he faced.

? Sunday in Houston, with the Rays up by the 1-0 margin that would be the final score, Rodríguez got the eighth inning against the formidable top of the Astros lineup. Jose Altuve struck out looking, Alex Bregman popped out and Yordan Alvarez went down swinging.

? Thursday night in St. Louis, with the Rays up by a run in the seventh, he came in to face the middle of the Cardinals’ lineup. He struck out Willson Contreras with a 90 mph slider, gave up a walk and a single then forced Paul Goldschmidt to hit into an inning-ending double play.

If that’s not high-leverage stuff, what is?

“I feel very happy that I’m getting all these opportunities, and I’m going to take advantage,” Rodríguez said recently through interpreter Manny Navarro. “I’m very fortunate that they’re giving me these opportunities and [I will] just pitch the best that I can every time.”

If he keeps pitching like this, he’ll earn more of those opportunities. Rodríguez didn’t break camp with the big league bullpen, and his first stint with the Rays lasted from April 26-May 20. But he returned on July 10, after another dominant stretch with Triple-A Durham, and since then he’s allowed only three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out 11 in 11 1/3 innings.

“I think what Manny’s done this second time around that’s been impressive is that, from pitch one of his outing, he’s ready to go. It was a little bit of a build into that the first go-round,” manager Kevin Cash said. “I think we all gave him the message that, when you come in the game, we need you full strength, ready to pitch, and we’re seeing that with every outing. It’s pretty, pretty nasty stuff.”

The Rays knew Rodríguez had nasty stuff when they acquired him from the Cubs prior to last year’s Trade Deadline. He stood out to staff while facing rehabbing hitters during a postseason workout at Tropicana Field last October and had a strong spring, too. But his experience in the Majors was limited to 34 games with the Cubs in 2021-22, and until this past month, he had spent most of his time with the Rays pitching for Triple-A Durham.

Now, it’s easy to see how Rodríguez could thrive at the back end of the bullpen.

He’s using his swing-and-miss slider more often. His fastball velocity has ticked up a bit; he maxed out at 99.2 mph against the Cardinals. He’s throwing more pitches in the strike zone, and aside from Thursday night’s outing, he’s more consistently landed first-pitch strikes (63.2 percent in 2024) to get ahead in the count.

Rodríguez credited pitching coach Kyle Snyder, bullpen coach Jorge Moncada and the Rays’ scouting department for providing him with tips and information to improve. The high-leverage mentality? That’s all him.

“Mentally, I try to just keep it the same,” Rodríguez said. “My job is to get three outs out there, so mentally I just try to keep that and stay focused and just try to do my job and stay confident.”