Mike

Rabelo

Starting in place of Ivan Rodriguez, Rabelo said afterward that the injury is “something in my left calf, not a cramp.” He could be healthy again by the time manager Jim Leyland decides to give Rodriguez another day off.

Wilson has been out since Opening Day. “Kind of back to square one,” he said. “Obviously, I don’t know yet until the doctor gets here, but it isn’t working.” Mike Rabelo is filling in for Wilson as Ivan Rodriguez’s backup.

Rabelo hadn’t played since leaving Sunday’s game with a calf injury.

The remaining three players will all be prospects, according to Gammons. Rabelo did a capable job of filling in with Vance Wilson hurt last year, but he’s little more than a backup. If the Marlins are thinking about pairing him with Matt Treanor, they’ll have one of the game’s weakest catching duos.

Rabelo got his chance last year because of Vance Wilson’s injury and hit .257/.300/.357 in 168 at-bats as Ivan Rodriguez’s backup. Since the Marlins are going cheap, there’s a good chance he’ll share time with Matt Treanor next season. He’s solid enough defensively to stick as a backup, but neither he nor Treanor will do much for fantasy purposes given 300 at-bats.

In case there was any doubt, the Marlins made it clear they were going with Ronny Paulino as their backup by getting rid of everyone else who could have possibly done the job. Owens, who is making his way back from shoulder surgery, pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Raynor was 7-for-21 with a homer and three steals.

Rabelo has options left, but no one thought he was worthy of a 40-man roster spot. He was in the running to be the Marlins’ backup until Ronny Paulino was acquired.

Now we’re talking. Paulino may have been an upgrade over Steve Holm for the Giants, but it wasn’t going to make much of a difference. He’s a much, much better fit for the Marlins, who originally attempted to acquire him back in December. Paulino has been terrific against lefties throughout his career, and the Marlins just happen to have a left-handed-hitting starter in John Baker. A platoon of the two could end up being quite productive. Mike Rabelo and Brett Hayes figure to end up in Triple-A now.

Acquired as part of the offseason blockbuster with the Tigers, Rabelo split time behind the plate with Matt Treanor initially, but played himself into a backup role by hitting just .202/.256/.294 in 122 plate appearances and now loses that gig to Paul Hoover.

Rabelo is most likely done for the season. The Marlins might want him to play some winter ball.