PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Blake Snell is set to make his first Grapefruit League start Thursday when the Rays host the Twins at Charlotte Sports Park.

Managing Snell’s workload has been a priority for the Rays over the first couple of weeks of camp. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner pitched a career-high 180 2/3 innings in his first full big league season. Because of that, pitching coach Kyle Snyder and the Rays want to be cautious this spring.

Now that he’s set to make his debut, the plan will be to have Snell pitch every fifth day until the end of the spring. New acquisition Charlie Morton, who has also been eased into the spring workload, will pitch Friday against the Orioles.

The plan is for them to pitch probably one inning during their first starts and then get built up as the spring moves along.

“I think the plan right now is five starts and get them built up, so that come Opening Day they’re basically right around that six [-inning], 95-pitch or whatever pitch count,” manager Kevin Cash said Tuesday. “Sometimes we have to make adjustments to get them extra pitches or back down the workload, so it’ll be dependent on whether they pitch in games or simulated games that we provided for them in camp.”

For Morton, the plan could be for him to pitch in a game on the back fields for his second start since he would be scheduled to face division foe Baltimore in each of his first two. That decision will come down to Morton, who will determine if he cares about facing a division team twice during the spring. Snell’s next start would likely be against the Twins or the University of South Florida next Tuesday.

“I think we’ll let them drive that a little bit and get a sense of it,” Cash said. “I don’t know what [Morton is] going to do yet. If we can avoid him seeing the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays, it’s probably not the worst thing in the world. Some guys don’t care, some guys are very concerned with that, so we’ll see what they have to say.”

Duffy nearing a return

Rays third baseman Matt Duffy, who is dealing with a slight left hamstring tweak, will do some baserunning the next couple of days and is nearing a return.

“We’ve put a soft, soft date around Thursday for him,” Cash said. “He’s champing at the bit to play, but so far everything has been good. He was smart at catching it at the right time, not trying to push it. It’s a minor thing, but knowing his history, we don’t want it to continue to flare up every time he runs hard.”

Up next

Non-roster invitee Ricardo Pinto will get the start for the Rays when the team hosts the Red Sox at Charlotte Sports Park on Wednesday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Tyler Cloyd, Jake Faria, Ryne Stanek, Ian Gardeck, Hoby Milner, Matt Krook and Curtis Taylor are also scheduled to pitch.

Wednesday will also be the first time that Yandy Diaz hits leadoff for the Rays. Tampa Bay has been experimenting with the leadoff spot this spring, and Brandon Lowe, Austin Meadows and Daniel Robertson have already gotten the opportunity atop the lineup. Outfielder Avisail Garcia is also scheduled to make his first Grapefruit League appearance.

Tommy Pham, Ji-Man Choi, Joey Wendle, Kevin Kiermaier, Robertson, Mike Zunino and Michael Perez are also scheduled to be in the starting lineup.