ST. PETERSBURG -- With ace Blake Snell going on the injured list, the Rays had some decisions to make with their pitching staff heading into a three-game series this weekend against the Red Sox at Tropicana Field.

Rays manager Kevin Cash announced Thursday that the team will go with an opener day on Friday, which would’ve been Snell’s spot in the rotation. He will follow it up with Charlie Morton on Saturday and Tyler Glasnow on Sunday.

Going with an opener on Friday will make it three consecutive games the Rays will use that strategy. The club implemented it during Wednesday’s win, and the Rays will roll it out again Thursday with Hunter Wood making the start.

Cash admitted that there are some obstacles in going with the opener on three consecutive nights, but he alluded to the fact that the team tried it often in the past.

“We did it last year, but yeah there’s no doubt [that it’s a challenge],” Cash said. “Yesterday we talked about how important it is for pitchers to be as efficient as possible, and they’ve done that so far. But we’re going to need it a couple more times for everything to kind of all into place for us.”

The Rays could’ve elected to pitch Morton on normal rest for Friday’s game, but Cash said that the team will continue to give their starters an extra day of rest whenever possible.

“That was kind of the plan the entire way,” Cash said. “We’ve had some guys that haven’t been feeling as well. But when Blake banged up his toe, rather than uproot everybody else, we tried to keep it consistent.

“There wasn’t a lot of thought in shortening up Charlie to regular rest. We’re really direct in our thoughts coming out of camp that we wanted to do it this way.”

Cash said Snell could throw a bullpen session on Saturday, which would be another positive step in missing only one scheduled start. If Snell’s toe heals as the team hopes, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner would be available to pitch against the Royals on April 24.

“I think we’re optimistic with Blake,” Cash said. “He threw today, and he might be able to throw a bullpen on Saturday, that it might just be one time through [the rotation].”

Injury updates

It appears Joey Wendle, who has been sidelined with a left hamstring issue since April 1, is close to returning to the lineup.

“He hit a home run today, which was good,” Cash said. “We got on him about not hitting a home run yesterday, but all went well. He’ll probably be back here at some point.”

Wendle remains hopeful that he could return to the lineup as soon as this weekend against the Red Sox, but the team will get a better sense after they see how his hamstring responds in the next day.

“I’ll talk to him today and then we’ll see where he goes,” Cash said. “He’s close.”

Brent Honeywell, the Rays' No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was scheduled to pitch in Port Charlotte on Thursday as part of his rehab process, but he was shut down for the next couple of days with some soreness in the forearm area. Cash said that getting soreness during the rehab process isn’t out of the ordinary for players coming back from Tommy John surgery. The team remains optimistic that Honeywell, who was expected back at some point in June, won’t miss too much time.

“Optimistically, it’s fairly common for these guys to have minimal setbacks,” Cash said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that that’s what it is.”