PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- José Alvarado established himself as a key part of the Rays' bullpen in 2018, but his focus now is to stay as consistent as possible, as he’s expected to be a big piece in what the club is looking to accomplish this season.

“I’m really happy with the season I had last year,” Alvarado said in Spanish. “This offseason, I focused on working hard and commanding my pitches. I think I have the tools to keep performing well at the big league level.”

Without receiving much hype, Alvarado became one of the best relievers in the American League during an impressive 2018 season. The strong left-hander struck out 80 in 64 innings, and he finished the season with a 2.39 ERA. Alvarado’s fastball was a big weapon for him, finishing in the 93rd percentile in velocity, according to Statcast.

The 23-year-old is looking to continue to improve with his command this spring, but he doesn’t feel that he needs to change too much heading into the season.

“If God blesses me enough to stay healthy, I think I can have another good year,” Alvarado said. “I’ve been working hard and focused on what the team wants, which is giving me the ball in any situation. Like I’ve always told [Rays manager] Kevin Cash, after the second inning, I’m ready for whatever you want.”

The Rays don’t have any plans to name a closer this season, but there’s a strong chance that Alvarado sees plenty of save opportunities depending on the matchup and the workload. Last season, Alvarado pitched in a multitude of situations, which he says will help him heading into this season.

“That’s just my mentality,” Alvarado said. “After the second inning, I’m ready to go because I don’t necessarily have a specific role in the bullpen. They’ve never told me that I’m the closer or the setup man, so I’m just prepared for whatever they need.”

Alvarado won’t get much game action during the spring as the Rays are going to be cautious about how they use him following his first full season in the big leagues. The Venezuelan has thrown a pair of side bullpen sessions during the first week of camp and it’s unknown when Alvarado will appear in a Grapefruit League game.

“Alvarado’s workload was really high [last season],” Cash said. “We need to really manage him. In my opinion, if Alvarado threw five times off the mound in the spring, that would be more than enough. He’s such a big part and we want to keep him as fresh as possible.”

Even though Alvarado knows that he won’t be named the team’s closer, he says he’s fully prepared to handle the ninth inning. He finished with eight saves last season, but he admits that he rushed his pitches during his first opportunity.

“I think everything was fine, but I was rushing my pitches a little bit,” Alvarado said. “I was just trying to get out of that inning, and that’s when things got complicated. But because of that, I realized that in those situations you just have to stay relaxed and focused. After I figured that out, I stayed calm and focused, and that’s when the results started coming.”