KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Rangers embark on a bold new experiment: The utility catcher role.

With Elvis Andrus active and a potential glut of middle infielders, the Rangers decided to still keep Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the majors and instead sent catcher Jose Trevino back to Double-A. With Carlos Perez on the DL, Kiner-Falefa becomes the backup catcher. He will get his first career start at the position on Wednesday. And he's likely to get a second over the weekend at Minnesota.

If he does, he will become only the second player in the last 100 years to have multiple starts in a season at catcher, both middle infield positions and third base, according to baseball-reference.com. The other: Atlanta's Marty Martinez in 1968.

The Rangers decision to keep him and incorporate the extra responsibility of a relatively new position is acknowledgment of his feel for the game and his maturity. Kiner-Falefa, a natural middle infielder, has started 67 games at catcher in the minors over the last three seasons, but has not caught since his early April call-up.

"I'm excited to show people the new utility role," Kiner-Falefa said. "I thought I did everything I could to help the team. I feel like I've earned a spot."

In addition, moving Kiner-Falefa into the utility role will allow the Rangers to spend more time working with him on outfield. He appeared in 10 games in the outfield as a minor leaguer, including two starts.