PITTSBURGH — The Reds figure they can't replace Ken Griffey Jr. with one player, so they won't try. What the Reds will try to do is spread the burden around.

        “You don't replace your best player,” third baseman Aaron Boone said. “Everybody's got to pick up the slack.”

        The Reds' plan for playing without Griffey Monday against the Pittsburgh Pirates was to shift Juan Encarnacion from right field to center field and from the seventh spot in the order to the third spot. Ruben Mateo was going to play right and hit seventh.

        But Mateo was a late scratch from the lineup with a head cold. While it's probably not a good idea to ask out of the lineup with a cold in your first big chance with a team, the Reds will stick with Mateo.

        “He was really sick Sunday,” Reds general manager Jim Bowden said. “Then he had to get up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight to Pittsburgh. It happens. People get sick. I didn't expect him to play (Monday).”

        The Reds will not look outside the organization to replace Griffey. Veterans Derek Bell and Jose Canseco are available.

        “We have no interest whatsoever in them,” Bowden said. “We're going to replace him from within — whether it is Ruben Mateo, Brady Clark, Reggie Taylor, Austin Kearns, Wily Mo Pena or Raul Gonzalez. We won't look outside.”

        Pena and Kearns are on the 40-man roster and playing at Double-A Chattanooga. But Pena left Sunday's game with a strained quad muscle, and Kearns started the season 1-for-14 at the plate.

        With Mateo and Barry Larkin out (strained rib cage muscle) Monday, the Reds had to scramble. Only Boone, Todd Walker and Sean Casey were in their usual positions and spots in the order.

        Encarnacion moved from right to center and batted third. Adam Dunn played right field instead of left. Brady Clark started in left and batted in Larkin's spot (second). Catcher Jason LaRue moved from eighth to seventh. Gookie Dawkins played short and batted eighth.

        The Reds still hope that Griffey will miss only three to six weeks.

        Bowden said Griffey was at Cinergy Field at 9 a.m. Monday to work with physical therapist Lonnie Soloff. “He's in good spirits,” Bowden said. “He's focused on getting back as quickly as he can.”

        Bowden said noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews agreed with Reds medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek's diagnosis that treat ment without surgery should be the first method tried. But the best-case scenario has Griffey returning at the end of April.

        “It's definitely a blow,” Larkin said. “We have to do what we can do.”

        Reds manager Bob Boone left his options open on who will get the bulk of playing time in the outfield in Griffey's absence.

        “I don't know. We'll see,” he said. “We may platoon some with Taylor.”

        Taylor, acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies for Hector Mercado, is a left-handed hitter with good speed. He has only 22 major league at-bats.

        Boone likes to have Clark as a late-inning, pinch-hitting option. With a $45 million payroll, depth is one of the things you sacrifice.

        “We're a different team now,” Boone said.

        This could be a huge opportunity for Mateo, 24, obtained from Texas in the trade for Rob Bell last June.

        Mateo was once considered one of the top prospects in baseball. He was voted the best all-around player in Triple-A in a Baseball America survey in 1999. He was a regular with the Rangers in 2000 and was off to a solid start (.292 average, six steals, 19 RBI in 52 games). But he broke his right leg that June, and has struggled since.

        The Reds gave Mateo a chance to win the right field job in spring training. But Encarnacion easily beat him out. Mateo was hitting .364 (4-for-11) with two doubles at Triple-A Louisville when he was called up. “I have to do what I can do,” Mateo said. “I can't think about (replacing Griffey).”

        Larkin expressed his disappointment with some of the fans at Cinergy.

        “The worst part of it was people were yelling, "Get up, Junior. Suck it up,'” Larkin said. “It's a shame.”

Griffey's outlook better; no surgery for now Mateo will get chance while Griffey's out Pirates 1, Reds 0 Box, runs Reds Notebook: Larkin should be back Wednesday Pirates on best start since 1983

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