Stanek (1-1) started Thursday's loss to the Athletics and allowed two earned runs on a hit and a walk over 1.1 innings.
Stanek became the latest Rays reliever to be called on for a "bullpen day" start, but he quickly ran into trouble in the second after a 1-2-3 opening frame. The hard-throwing right-hander gave up an inning-opening double to the returning Khris Davis and walked Chad Pinder two batters later. That led to his exit after 25 pitches, but the two runs Stephen Piscotty subsequently plated with a two-bagger off Ryan Yarbrough went on Stanek's ledger. Moving forward, the 26-year-old is still likely to be deployed as a reliever in the majority of his appearances, although he could certainly be called on for the occasional spot start given manager Kevin Cash's eccentric methods of deploying his pitching staff.