CHICAGO — Ken Griffey Jr. might be ready to play this weekend for a series in St. Louis, but he won't be able to because the Reds put him on the 15-day disabled list.

        Given the fickle nature of hamstring injuries, the Reds decided rather than be short a player for the next few days to put Griffey on the DL and recall Austin Kearns from Triple-A Louisville.

Ken Griffey Jr. is consoled by coach Ray Knight after reinjuring his hamstring Sunday. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        “We'll err on the conservative side,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “We were really short on players (Monday) night.”

        Griffey aggravated his right hamstring, which he originally injured June 7, running out a double on Sunday. The injury wasn't originally considered serious.

        “It's a little more serious than (when he did it in Anaheim),” trainer Greg Lynn said. “As is always the case, you re-evaluate the next day. He was more sore and his range of motion was limited (Monday).”

        Boone plans to play Kearns, Adam Dunn and Juan Encarnacion nearly every day in the outfield. Kearns didn't start Tuesday because his plane wasn't scheduled to arrive in Chicago until an hour before game time.

        Griffey left the team to return to Cincinnati to rehabilitate the injury.

        “I talked to him a few hours ago,” Brian Goldberg, Griffey's agent, said Tuesday. “He's disappointed. But he understands. It could be only a couple of days. But the team needs a player.”

        What sealed the decision was Griffey being unable to pinch-hit Monday night. After the June 7 injury, Griffey was day-to-day for a week.

        Because his stint on the DL leads into the All-Star break, Griffey will get 16 days to rehabilitate.

        “Because he tweaked it, then tweaked it again, we don't want to push him out there too soon,” Reds medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek said.

        This is Griffey's second stint on the disabled list this year and third in two seasons. By contrast, Griffey was on the DL a total of five times in his 11 seasons in Seattle.

        Griffey missed 70 starts last season with a torn left hamstring. This season, Griffey has missed 55 starts and will miss at least 13 more. By contrast, Griffey missed a total of eight games his last three years in Seattle.

        This year, Griffey has missed 41 games with a torn patella tendon in his right knee. He returned from that injury May 24. He appeared in 10 of the Reds' next 14 games before injuring his right hamstring on June 7. He missed the next eight starts. He re-injured the hamstring on Sunday.

        “It's three separate injuries,” Kremchek said.

        But because Griffey has had two hamstring injuries the medical staff is looking at prevention.

        The Reds are hoping that by giving Griffey extra time the injury will heal just as his left hamstring did.

        The Reds are 7-13 with Griffey in the starting lineup and 31-23 without him. Boone said you shouldn't read too much into those numbers.

        “I'm always going to defend Junior because of his track record and age,” Boone said.

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