KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The first inning of Isiah Kiner-Falefa's major league catching career began with a nifty example of efficient pitch-calling and communication with pitcher Austin Bibens-Dirkx. The last inning ended with a runner caught stealing.

In other words, from start to finish, this attempt to create a Frankenstein of a utility player began with a dashing good show in the Rangers' 3-2 win over Kansas City. It ran the club's season-best win streak to five games.

"He did a great job receiving the ball, presenting it for strikes and handling the position," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "I talked to [home plate umpire] Chad Fairchild late in the game and he was impressed, too, with what he saw. He's a baseball player. He thinks baseball. He has aptitude for the game at a high level."

About the level of aptitude: Kiner-Falefa's next start, which Banister said will come this weekend at Minnesota, will be nearly unprecedented. He will become only the second player in the last 100 years to start multiple games in a season at catcher, second base, shortstop and third base, according to baseball-reference.com. Houston's Marty Martinez did it with Atlanta in 1968.

Not that his start Wednesday wasn't unprecedented either. He and Bibens-Dirkx formed the first all-hyphenated battery in Major League history. And his game-ending caught-stealing (we're working in as many hyphens as possible here, since that's the theme of the day) of Hunter Dozier marked the first time since caught-stealings were tracked in 1951 a player making his first-ever start at catcher ended the game by throwing out a would-be base-stealer.

Ever since Martinez stretched the utility role to its bounds, it seems the game has been moving towards specialization. Having a backup catcher who can also play multiple positions well - and Kiner-Falefa is an above-average fielder - would conceivably open up a multitude of roster flexibility. On the most dramatic potential impact, it could more easily allow a team to carry a sixth starting pitcher. More easily: It would create more opportunity for bullpen depth.

"I love these kinds of players," Banister said. "Guys who can play multiple positions are such useful players. As the game progresses, I think guys like this are going to continue to show up."

Said Kiner-Falefa: "I'm trying to start a new trend. There are a lot of guys who could do it. I'm just glad our organization is giving me the opportunity to do it. If they didn't trust me, I wouldn't be back there."

Kiner-Falefa was strictly a middle infielder and one who was being used less and less at Class A Hickory in 2015. Rangers minor league instructor Roy Silver mentioned to him that he stuck in the minors a little longer because he was willing to catch, too. Kiner-Falefa liked the idea.

One thing led to another and by the instructional league that fall he was trying to learn the position. Over the next two seasons, he caught more than 60 games and was going to do it a bit more regularly at Triple-A Round Rock this year before the Rangers' interceded and called him to the majors. He spent the last two months as a middle infielder and was facing a possible return to the minors to work on refining catching this week when Elvis Andrus was activated, but the Rangers decided he could learn just as well at the major league level.

He got his first chance to show what he's capable of Wednesday. He called about 90 percent of the pitches, according to Banister, with a little assistance from the dugout. He framed pitches well. He controlled the game.

And the guy with a hyphen in the middle of his name ended the game with an exclamation point.