He started at shortstop for the Owls as a freshman and played in two College World Series, including 2003. He was drafted by Cincinnati following his junior season and embarked on his pro career. It’s been said that he looks a lot like Snoop Doggy Dogg (and he does). He’s hanging out in Cincinnati Reds minor league camp and he’s taken the time to check in with RUBPA. He’s Paul Janish.

Paul Janish here, checking in from sunny Sarasota, Florida, spring training home of the Cincinnati Reds. Things have gone very well for me this spring.

As many of you are probably aware, last season was my first year back from Tommy John surgery. I played most of the year in A ball, but got a cup of coffee in AA at the end of the season. Needless to say, I was very surprised to get a non-roster invite to big league camp this year.

I was excited to see how the “other half” lives and it is everything you would expect and more. To echo Stansberry and some of the other guys, big league camp is amazing. I got to hang out with the big leaguers and I learned a ton. I actually got a ton of playing time, which was kind of surprising.

I never thought I had a chance to break camp with the big league squad and that intuition was confirmed when I was sent down to minor league camp early in cuts. Funny thing though: I still played in the big league game almost every day after being sent down to minor league camp. In fact, I pulled double-duty for most of the last few weeks. I would go through workouts and drills in minor league camp in the morning, play the minor league game after lunch, and then jump over to the big league stadium for the last few innings. At first I thought I was just emergency back-up in case someone tweaked a hammy or sprained an ankle, but I got a few innings each day.

I’m a little tired from all of the baseball but I’m ready to go and I’m excited about the season. Thanks for all of your support while I was at Rice and since. Go Owls!