This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- Late last season, the Rays slowly transitioned Drew Rasmussen out of their bullpen and into their rotation. The move made sense for a lot of reasons. Rasmussen had a history of starting in college and in the Minors. He clearly had the stuff to do it. And the Rays had a need, with injuries affecting their starting staff throughout the year.

A similar storyline is playing out now, and this time it’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs being stretched out to pitch in a starting/bulk-inning role.

Springs has been dominant in his return from knee surgery, posting a 0.69 ERA and 0.77 WHIP with 14 strikeouts and only three walks in 13 innings over his first nine outings. He’s struck out nearly 30 percent of the batters he’s faced, and he’s been just as tough against right-handed hitters (batting .182 with a .448 OPS) while dominating lefties (batting .100 with a .350 OPS).

Opponents have struggled with Springs’ fastball, hitting just .125 against it so far, and his changeup has completely baffled right-handed hitters with a 42.9 percent whiff rate. He’s starting to throw his slider harder, too, giving him a three-pitch mix. MLB.com’s Mike Petriello recently explored Springs’ success as one of “three pitchers you didn’t know were dominating."

The Rays certainly know it, which is why they want to see how he looks in an expanded role.

“We're having conversations. He’s been so good for us,” manager Kevin Cash said. “There's conversations that we're having day to day, trying to find out what's best for our pitching staff. It’s interesting to talk about. He hasn't done it in a long time to become starter/bulk guy, but being so tough on righties and being as good as he's been, it makes the conversation fun to have.”

On April 23, Springs pitched two scoreless innings against the Red Sox on four days’ rest. He worked 2 2/3 innings as an opener against the Mariners five days later. On Tuesday, he breezed through 3 1/3 innings on 31 pitches in Oakland. If the trend continues, don’t be surprised to see him pitch again Sunday.

Whatever works for the Rays works for him, the 29-year-old lefty said.

“I love to pitch, so I want to pitch as much as I can. As far as what capacity and all that, I'll leave that up to them and whatever they suggest, I'm all for it,” Springs said Thursday. “They've helped me kind of turn my career around, so I'm not going to question it. I'm just going to go out there and pitch until [Cash] takes the ball from me.”

Springs has history as a starter. While in the Rangers system in 2016, he moved out of the bullpen and into the rotation for High-A High Desert. He returned to High-A as a starter in ’17. The next spring, Springs moved to the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever to take a quicker path through Texas’ system. That road led him to the big leagues, and now he might be on the move again.

With the Rays’ workload concerns and a handful of their starters still coming back from injuries, why not give it a shot?

“I want to pitch, help the team win any way I can,” Springs said. “If that's covering one inning, great. If it's covering two or three or four, whatever, I'm all for it.”