"Whether it's Randy Johnson or Pedro Martinez, I want to be out there and test myself against the best. I don't like to hear people say, 'You can't hit lefties.' I want to prove people wrong," Baker said.

Baker hit .299 last year in 61 games. But he batted .213 (10-for-47) against lefties while hitting .327 (49-for-150) against righties.

"The main thing is getting at-bats against left-handed pitchers," Baker said. "If you don't play often against them, it's going to be difficult to have success."

Paulino, who bats right-handed, already has proven he can hit well against left-handers -- he's got a .355 average (92-for-259) against lefties.

MARLINS 12, NATIONALS 6: The plan was to rely less on the long ball this season, but the Marlins started off 2009 by hitting four. SS Hanley Ramirez hit a grand slam and 1B Jorge Cantu and LF Jeremy Hermida each homered, but the most exciting blow never left the ballpark: 3B Emilio Bonifacio hit an inside-the-park homer, showing off a new speed component the Marlins hope to use this year.