The Reds hope that placing Pete Harnisch on the 15-day disabled list will cure the right-hander's mysterious ineffectiveness.

        Harnisch is expected to be sidelined for 3-to-4 weeks after general manager Jim Bowden said Saturday that the Opening Day starter had weakness in the back of his rotator cuff. Harnisch underwent tests in the morning that Bowden said revealed the infirmity.

        “It's a long season, and our feeling is that's how you get injured, if you don' take care of it,” Bowden said. “We don't want to lose him to surgery and have him be out for the year. So it's better to shut him down now and get him right.”

        Said Harnisch, who'll begin what Bowden called an “aggressive” strengthening program, “This is the best course of action ... It's early and I can come back stronger. That's what they're saying.”

        Bowden said that a replacement for Harnisch probably wouldn't be named until late next week. The Reds won't need a fifth starting pitcher until Saturday.

        The likeliest choice to be summoned from Triple-A Louisville is Osvaldo Fernandez, who's 3-1 with a 5.18 ERA in six starts.

        Concern over Harnisch rose at Philadelphia last Thursday when he allowed six runs in one-third of an inning, the shortest start of his 11-year career. The Reds' top winner in 1998-99 slipped to 0-4 with a 9.95 ERA in six starts. After that game, pitching coach Don Gullett said that Harnisch lacked “arm speed,” which forced him to throw with too much exertion and robbed his pitches of late movement.

        “Obviously he hasn't been finishing his pitches,” Bowden said. “He has been very clear with us that he's in no pain whatsoever. He does not feel that he's hurt. But obviously we're all watching the fact that he's getting hit and that's not Pete.”

        Asked if Harnisch's rotator-cuff problem had anything to do with the shoulder problems he endured last season, Bowden said, “I'm not going to say if it's related or not related.”

        Harnisch continued to say he's not hurt.

        “I thought something wasn't right, based on the bats,” he said. “But I'm not in any pain. So it's hard for me to talk about an injury when I'm not feeling any pain.”

        The test findings, said Harnisch, reflected “a marked difference in my strength from now to spring training. And I felt great all along. So if we get it back as quickly as it went, that's a positive thing. I feel like I'll be back to myself.”

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