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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 Rodr¨ªguez. 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 Rodr¨ªguez.

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

? Last Saturday, with the Rays up by three runs in Houston, Rodr¨ªguez 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, Rodr¨ªguez 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,¡± Rodr¨ªguez 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. Rodr¨ªguez 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 Rodr¨ªguez 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 Rodr¨ªguez 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.

Rodr¨ªguez 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,¡± Rodr¨ªguez 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.¡±