The Reds like Seminati’s above-average power and the athletic ability of the 6-foot-2, 220-pound first baseman. He began his professional career last summer with the Arizona League Reds and earned a late call-up to Billings, where he hit .279 with a double, triple and home run in 43 at-bats. In Friday's opener, he went 1-for-4 and made a couple nice defensive plays at first and had three hits Saturday, driving in a run.

His baseball experiences have helped him learn English and Spanish, and Seminati said he doesn’t feel pressure to succeed or feel he has to prove himself because he’s from a part of the world not noted for its baseball acumen.

He’s just trying to learn and have fun.

“Baseball has given me so many chances to travel and visit places I probably would never be able to visit if I wasn’t in baseball,” said Seminati, who said he’s grown to love hamburgers, particularly Montana hamburgers. “As my parents always told me, live it as a life experience. But if you come home, there’s no problem. So I just try to give my best and take whatever comes.”

After he signed with the Reds, Seminati was invited on to a TV show, he said, where the program did a man-on-the-street segment, asking random people if they knew what baseball was.