Paul Janish

When he was promoted on July 8, he ranked second in the Southern League in doubles (21) and 5th among all Double-A players in walks (50).

Following the season, his strike zone discipline was rated by Baseball America as the best in the organization.

On August 9, he hit his first career grand slam off Indianapolis Indians' pitcher Marty McLeary; this was his first career grand slam and his first Triple-A homer.

On November 20, he was added to the major league 40-man roster.

Janish began the season with Louisville, hitting .293 in 35 games (4 hr, 20 rbi) before being promoted to the major league club after a string of injuries to middle infielders Alex Gonzalez, Jeff Keppinger, and Jerry Hairston Jr.. He returned to the Bats on June 27, but was recalled in September.

Janish recorded a game-winning hit in his first major league game and second major league at-bat.

Janish had been called up that day to replace an injured Jeff Keppinger.

Paul Ryan Janish (born October 12, 1982) is an American baseball coach and former professional baseball shortstop.

He is currently the Director of Player Development for the Chicago White Sox of the American League.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, and Baltimore Orioles.

Janish attended Cypress Creek High School where he played shortstop and pitched for the Cougars.

He was named to the 2001 Texas 5A All-State team.

Janish played for Rice University.

In 2002, he played in 61 games at shortstop, had a batting average of .299, and was named to the Western Athletic Conference All-Star team.

In 2003, the Rice Owls baseball team won the College World Series as Janish played in 68 games for the team.

It was the first time a player had gotten a walk-off in his major league debut since Miguel Cabrera in 2003, and the first time a player had gotten a game-winning hit for his first hit since Randy Keisler in 2005.

Janish had his best batting average in 2004 with the Owls, hitting .345, and hitting 9 home runs and 16 doubles as he was named to the WAC All-Star team.

During the 2004 MLB Draft, the Cincinnati Reds wanted to get position players where they needed them early due to an apparent lack of depth, and as a result chose Janish with the 138th pick in the 5th round of the draft.

In his first professional season, Janish batted .263 with 2 home runs and 22 RBI in 66 games for the rookie league Billings Mustangs.

He had his best game of the season in a 7–3 win on August 15 of that year at Missoula as he went 4-for-4 with a double and 2 runs scored.

Following the season, he was the first recipient of the Dernell Stenson Award as MVP of the Florida Instructional League.

Janish entered the season as the #10 ranked prospect in the Reds organization according to Baseball America.

He batted .245 with 5 home runs and 29 RBI in 55 games at Single-A Dayton.

On June 8, he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and missed the remainder of the season.

Janish began the season at Dayton and after 26 games was promoted to Single-A Advanced Sarasota, where he played in 91 games and batted .278 (9 home runs, 55 RBI, 8 stolen bases).

He had the fourth-best strikeout to at-bat ratio in the Florida State League (1 every 10.08 plate appearances).

On August 30, he was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga and played the last 4 games of the season with the Lookouts (.267, 4 hits).

Began the season by participating in his first major league spring training camp.

He spent most of the year at Chattanooga, but made his Triple-A debut playing the last 55 games of the season at Louisville.

On May 18, 2008, Janish got his first major league start at shortstop.

He went 3–3 with a walk as the Reds won 6–4 against the Cleveland Indians and then major league leader in ERA Cliff Lee.

He finished the 2008 season for the Reds with a .188 average (15-for-80), along with six RBI and his first career and only homer for the season.

Janish made the Reds out of spring training, and spent the whole year with the club.

He made 63 starts (82 appearances) at shortstop for the season and one start (two appearances) at third base.

He delivered another clutch hit, getting a pinch-hit 2-run single to break the 7–7 tie in the 11th inning of the 18-inning game between the Reds and the San Diego Padres on May 25.

The Reds lost 12–9.

On June 26, the Reds optioned Janish to Louisville to make room for Jerry Hairston Jr.., who had been activated from the disabled list.

He also had the most RBI in a game for Louisville that season, getting 6 on April 27 vs. Columbus, during a 4-for-4 performance with 2 doubles and a grand slam.

The Reds had blown a six-run lead in the top of the 9th inning of a May 14,, game against the Florida Marlins.

With the score tied at 6, Janish hit an RBI single against Renyel Pinto to score Johnny Cueto for the game winner.