Stanek will serve as the opening pitcher for the Rays in Friday's series opener against the Mets, Juan Toribio of The Athletic Tampa Bay reports.
Stanek hasn't worked more than two innings as an opener or reliever this season, so that will likely be his restriction Friday. The hard-throwing right-hander has allowed just one run since the beginning of June while posting a 0.85 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. Due to the heavy workloads that many of the Rays' other long-relief options have assumed lately, the newly recalled Andrew Kittredge looks like the top candidate to cover the bulk of the innings behind Stanek.