Barry Larkin is back on the disabled list after aggravating his pulled right groin muscle. But that was not the injury Larkin was referring to recently when he said he was less than 100 percent.

        The Reds revealed Friday night that in addition to a groin injury Larkin is also suffering from a “sports hernia.”

        “He's been dealing with this since spring training,” team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek said. “Sometimes he's 65 percent. Sometimes he's 90 percent. But it's something he can't aggravate by playing.”

        The decision was made to allow Larkin to keep playing because the surgery to fix the hernia takes three months to recover.

        “We discussed it,” Kremchek said. “But he felt good enough to play.”

        That was what Larkin was talking about when he said he was playing hurt in response to Reds radio announcer Joe Nuxhall saying Larkin was “losing it” at shortstop.

        The hernia is unrelated to the groin injury. A CT scan Friday showed no change in the hernia. However, an MRI revealed a tear where the groin muscle connects to the bone.

        That is the injury that put him on the DL. When he returns depends upon two things: How quickly the groin heals and the Reds' status in the standings.

        The groin injury put him on the DL from May 18 to June 15. It was his call to come back before the groin was fully healed. He doesn't think that will be the case this time.

        “I think it will be what the manager and the general manager have to say,” Larkin said. “It depends on where the team is. I don't think they'll want me to go out and re-aggravate it if the team is however many games out.”

        The Reds entered Friday's game 14 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central. Larkin is out at least 15 days, so the Reds very well could be done before he's ready to return.

        The Reds called up Bill Selby from Triple-A Louisville to take Larkin's roster spot. Pokey Reese will play shortstop in Larkin's stead. Selby started at second base Friday night.

        “I can't continue the way it is,” Larkin said.

        No timetable for Larkin's return has been set.

        “We're hoping for three to four weeks,” Kremchek said. “It could be longer.”

        The injury will be treated with stretching and strengthening. Kremchek said Larkin will have to be “close to 100 percent” to return.

        Thursday, Larkin went into the hole to field a ball hit by Sammy Sosa in the sixth inning. He slipped on the grass and went down in pain.

        “I felt it strain, twist, pull,” he said. “Painful stuff. It was killing me.”

        Larkin doesn't regret the decision to come back when he did.

        “I didn't come back too early,” he said. “I came back when it wasn't 100 percent. We've been dealing with this since the second week of spring training. It was my decision.”

        As for the sports hernia, Larkin might have surgery in the offseason.

        “No decision has been made,” Kremchek said.

        David Justice of the New York Yankees and former Red Melvin Neives had injuries similar to Larkin's. They are completely correctable by surgery.

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