Pruitt will piggyback starter Ryne Stanek in Thursday's game against the Mariners and is expected to cover most of the innings for the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Though the Rays have no healthy full-time starters at the moment beyond Blake Snell and Nathan Eovaldi, it doesn't appear manager Kevin Cash is itching to fill the remaining two openings in the rotation. Instead, the Rays will continue to mix and match relievers as "openers" for games when needed, with Ryan Yarbrough and Pruitt acting as de facto starters and maintaining more regimented pitching schedules. The unorthodox usage pattern has seemingly suited Pruitt well, as he has posted a 1.78 ERA and 0.91 WHIP over the five games this season in which he has thrown at least four innings out of the bullpen.