Rays manager Kevin Cash confirmed that Stanek will serve as the team's opening pitcher for Thursday's game against the Astros, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Stanek is expected to cover around an inning or two before giving way to long man Ryan Yarbrough, who will handle the heaviest workload for the pitching staff on the day. In the other seven games Stanek has opened this season, he has given up two runs and generated 10 strikeouts over 10 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .118/.211/.176 batting line.