Paul Janish is apparently in the habit of explaining that his last name is pronounced with a "soft J." (I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. I always thought a soft J was a French J/G, like the second G in "garage." He pronounces it like a Y, which is common in Germanic-type languages.) But anyways, former Reds beat writer C. Trent Rosecrans promptly nicknamed Janish "Soft Baby J," which was soon shortened to "Soft-J." I even saw a girl at the ballpark wearing a t-shirt that said, "I ♥ Soft-J."
Amusingly, some Reds fans have taken to calling Jay Bruce, Janish's teammate, "Hard Jay." Very fitting, IMO. Not least because Bruce and Janish are apparently very good friends - Texas boys who came up together in the Reds system.
In any case, both had pretty good days at the office today. In fact, all the Reds' Texas boys did, with the exception of relief pitcher Logan Ondrusek, who struggled a bit. Bruce was 3 for 5 with a run scored. Drew Stubbs was 2 for 5 with 3 runs scored, a walk, and the game-winning homer. His UT teammate, Sam LeCure, was the starting pitcher, and did okay, all things considered. And Janish was 3 for 4 with a double and a sac fly.
Dusty Baker has been shuffling the lineup around a bit, partly because the Reds have been struggling offensively, partly because injuries have left him without a real third baseman. With Scott Rolen and his backup, Juan Francisco, both on the DL, Miguel Cairo is the starting third baseman. As we Yankee fans know, Miggy's a decent utility guy, but best in small doses. Dusty apparently realizes this, and has been giving Janish some time at 3B while Renteria plays SS. I'm not sure I like this. Janish is a fine third baseman, but his strongest asset is his elite defense at the critical SS position. But Renteria either can't or won't play 3B, so Dusty may not have much choice. (Renteria had his third error today - a bad throw that let a run score. Given how little playing time he's gotten, that's not good.)
Perhaps most interesting was that Dusty moved Janish up in the lineup. He usually bats 8th. Today, he batted 7th, with catcher Ryan Hanigan batting 8th. Supposedly, this was to give Janish better pitches to hit. Hanigan has been struggling lately...but Janish has been struggling more. Perhaps Dusty thinks Hanigan is more likely to work a walk than Janish. Janish is pretty good at taking a walk, but Hanigan's even better.
And after today's results, Janish might find himself batting 7th more often.
Labels: Paul Janish
