When do the Phillies unleash reliever Orion Kerkering? Francisco Rodríguez could be a blueprint.

Orion Kerkering made his eye-popping major-league debut 17 days ago. Nearly every day since, Rob Thomson has fielded a variation on the same question.

How will the Phillies deploy their new bullpen weapon?

The answer remains ambiguous. On one hand, Thomson insists he’s unafraid of bringing Kerkering into close, late-game cuticle-chompers. On the other, the 22-year-old’s first two postseason appearances came with a seven-run lead over the Marlins and against the bottom of the Braves’ order — albeit in the seventh inning of a 2-0 game.

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As it pertains to sorting out bullpen roles, a manager’s actions usually provide more clarity than his words. And based strictly on usage, Kerkering appears to rank third on the Phillies’ pecking order of right-handed setup relievers, behind Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Domínguez.

If that’s the case, fine. Hoffman rode his wipeout slider, high-octane fastball, and knack for stranding runners all the way from a minor-league deal at the end of spring training to Thomson’s circle of trust. And Domínguez’s pure stuff might be more electric than any Phillies reliever save lefty José Alvarado.

But the Phillies wouldn’t have pushed a 2022 fifth-round draft pick to the majors in late September — after he began the season in single A — if they didn’t believe he could get high-stress outs in the playoffs against dangerous right-handed hitters.

Maybe it’s time, then, with the deadlocked National League Division Series shifting to Citizens Bank Park, to fully unleash Kerkering on Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley, and the Braves’ other biggest boppers.

It takes guts to make such a leap of faith. Take it from Rockies manager Bud Black, who was watching on television when Kerkering entered Game 2 of the wild-card series and flung his hellacious slider at three Marlins hitters in a scoreless eighth inning.

Black immediately thought of one name: Francisco Rodríguez.

“What a comparable,” Black said by phone Tuesday.

Black was the Angels’ pitching coach in 2002, when 20-year-old Rodríguez — K-Rod, as he was known — made his major-league debut with two weeks left in the season and became the story of the playoffs, appearing in 11 of Anaheim’s 16 games and posting a 1.93 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 18⅔ innings for the eventual World Series champs.

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“We had really never put our eyes on him as a major league staff,” Black said. “The first game was in Oakland. He came in and punched a couple guys out, and I remember looking at [manager] Mike [Scioscia] and we sort of smiled and said, ‘Where has this guy been?’”

Black added, “Strikingly similar to Orion.”

Indeed, like Kerkering this year, Rodríguez didn’t attend major league camp in spring training in 2002. He threw smoke and had a slider-curveball hybrid that Black still calls “the best breaking ball that I’ve ever seen.” Kerkering’s wicked slider elicited similar reactions from scouts who watched him in the minors.

The Angels liked their bullpen, with veteran closer Troy Percival, right-handers Brendan Donnelly and Ben Weber, and lefty Scott Schoeneweis. Based on reports from the minor league staff, Scioscia and Black trusted that Rodríguez would give them another option.

So, they didn’t ease Rodríguez into the postseason cauldron. They handed him a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning of Game 2 of the division series against the Yankees, and he gave up a two-run homer to Alfonso Soriano.

But the Angels came back to win and put Rodríguez right back on the mound with a one-run deficit in the seventh inning of Game 3. He struck out four batters, including Bernie Williams and Robin Ventura, in two scoreless innings of another come-from-behind victory.

And with that, The Postseason of K-Rod began taking shape.

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“The thing that stood out for me and Mike was, the bigger the stage, the better,” Black said. “He was not skittish, he did not scare off. His regular-season outings just gave us confidence to use him in the playoffs.”

Thomson was smitten with Kerkering at first sight. Kerkering cranked his fastball to 99 mph on Sept. 24 against the Mets and struck out Brett Baty and Rafael Ortega on that slider.

It was enough, Thomson said the next day, to win Kerkering a spot on the postseason roster.

Trusting him when a game on the line? That takes more nerve.

In outlining how the 2002 Angels deployed their postseason bullpen, Black sounded a lot like Thomson. They designated pockets of an opposing lineup for their leverage relievers from the fifth inning through the eighth, with the ninth inning reserved for Percival.

But the more they used Rodríguez, the more their confidence grew.

“To be honest with you, we couldn’t wait to get Frankie in the game,” Black said. “Every game that he was available, Mike and I talked about Frankie and when and where to use him.”

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Another advantage to leaning on Rodríguez: He was largely a mystery to opponents.

“Here comes this kid out of nowhere,” Black said. “There’s no doubt that worked to Frankie’s advantage.”

Black figures it could help Kerkering, too. Through two games against the Braves, he faced four hitters. Other than Acuña, who drew a four-pitch walk against Kerkering in Game 1, none of Atlanta’s top righty-hitting threats have faced him.

With a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning of Game 2, Thomson turned to Hoffman to face Acuña, Ozzie Albies, and Riley. He hit Acuña with a first-pitch fastball, then retired Albies before giving up a go-ahead two-run homer to Riley on a hanging slider.

Asked Monday why he preferred Hoffman over other leverage righties, notably Domínguez and Kerkering, Thomson said the coaching staff agreed that Hoffman’s slider and splitter would play well against Albies, in particular.

“We meet before every game and talk about their lineup and our guys and what pockets we want to attack,” Thomson said. “And that was the spot that we thought Hoffman was going to be the most effective in.”

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As the series continues, maybe Kerkering will get more consideration.

Maybe he really can be this year’s K-Rod.

“I’m sure they’ll protect him a little bit, but they’ll challenge him,” Black said. “There may be a walk in there, but hey, there’s a strikeout in there, too. That was the thing with Frankie. He might scatter some pitches, but when it came down to it, we always felt good about it.

“The Braves not seeing this guy, if the Phillies advance to the championship series, it could be an advantage for Orion. He could be a secret weapon, there’s no doubt about it.”