BOSTON -- Every five days or so, Eduardo Rodriguez prepares to start for the Boston Red Sox by reviewing the scouting report on opposing hitters and going over the game plan with catcher Christian Vazquez and pitching coach Carl Willis.

And then, he peppers David Price and Chris Sale with questions.

"Every time I go in a game, I take the card with the lineup and ask them, especially [about] the lefties," Rodriguez said. "They are lefties, too. I just ask them how they attack this guy, how they pitch this guy. Just the way I look at them and see how they pitch, how they're attacking the hitters and being aggressive all the time, and I just put that in play, too."

Rodriguez is in the midst of a breakout season, his most recent gem coming Friday night at Fenway Park with six scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Make it five wins in a row for the Red Sox and seven consecutive starts of at least six innings for Rodriguez, who has a 2.25 ERA over that span. The lefty has a 2.77 ERA overall, tied for ninth in the American League, and the Sox are 7-2 in his starts.

At age 24, Rodriguez is blossoming into a front-line starter right before our eyes.

The lion's share of the credit belongs to Rodriguez, of course. He has overcome a series of knee injuries and issues with pitch-tipping that have plagued him over the past two years. He has streamlined his mechanics. And he has learned to trust his strengths, namely using a bat-slowing changeup as his primary off-speed pitch to keep hitters off a fastball that averages 93 mph, according to the data at Fangraphs.

"It's just a matter of his abilities coming together," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "This has always been an extremely talented young guy."

But it also helps to have mentors, and in Price and Sale, Rodriguez has the American League's two best left-handers over the past five seasons. And their influence on him has been undeniable.

It began last season. Once Price signed with the Red Sox and reported to spring training, he took an interest in Rodriguez, as he had done early in Chris Archer's career with the Tampa Bay Rays and Marcus Stroman's with the Toronto Blue Jays. Before they were teammates, Rodriguez said he would watch video of how Price approached hitters. It was even easier last season when he was able to tap Price on the shoulder and ask.

The Red Sox traded for Sale in December, and Farrell has noted the lanky ace's impact on Rodriguez. In particular, Rodriguez can learn from when Sale uses his changeup versus his slider. He can study Sale's tempo and watch how thoroughly he controls a game.

"I don't think there's any one thing you can point to," Farrell said of the biggest difference in Rodriguez from last season to this. "He's generated a lot of talk because of the run that he's on and doing a very good job. That's clear. But it's been a combination of a lot of things that's culminated in increased confidence, pitching very relaxed with very good stuff."

Rodriguez's strikeout rate has jumped from 8.4 punchouts per nine innings last season to 9.6 this year. He's limiting right-handed hitters to a .188 average. Against the Mariners, he held dangerous Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz hitless in six at-bats and avoided trouble despite putting at least one runner on base in every inning.

The Red Sox have won Rodriguez's past four starts and six of his past seven. In short, he has steadied the Red Sox's rotation at a time when Price has not yet made a start because of a spring-training elbow injury, reigning Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello is still seeking consistency and knuckleballer Steven Wright has been lost for the season to knee surgery.

"I'm not impressed he can do it because we know he can do it," center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. said. "He's very talented."

Said reliever Matt Barnes: "It's been fun to kind of watch him. To be along that ride with him, to watch him come from '15 and '16 and watch him mature into the fantastic pitcher that he is right now, it's incredible. His preparation, his dedication, he has a fantastic routine that is working for him right now."

In that case, count on Rodriguez firing off more questions at Price and Sale, who might suddenly have company on the short list of the league's best lefties.