By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Barry Larkin will bat first on Opening Day. Aaron Boone will bat second, Ken Griffey Jr. will be third and Jason LaRue will be eighth. Those in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh spots remain to be determined.

Austin Kearns, Adam Dunn, Sean Casey and Brandon Larson will occupy them - quite possibly in that order.

"We'll wait and see," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "I'd like it to be Kearns (in the cleanup spot). But we'll see where he is and how he's swinging."

Kearns in the fourth spot would allow the Reds to alternate right-handed and left-handed hitters from the second spot to the seventh, if the order is Kearns, Dunn, Larson and Casey after Griffey.

But Kearns is coming of March 10 elbow surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow. He returned to the lineup Sunday, getting one hit in his last four games, and is hitting only .103 in 29 spring training at-bats.

"It's not easy coming back after missing that time," Kearns said. "I've got to be patient. It'll come."

But Kearns is such a disciplined hitter and hard worker, he could get it together at the plate very quickly.

"I've had some at-bats where I felt like I was right there," he said.

Wednesday was a tough day for the Reds to work on their swings; they faced Boston ace Pedro Martinez. Cincinnati won 6-1, but Martinez struck out nine in five innings.

"You can be locked in and still look bad against a guy like that," Kearns said.

Manager Boone is pleased with the way the rest of his starters are swinging the bat, even though going into Wednesday, the Reds had scored two or fewer runs in six of their previous nine games.

"I've been pretty pleased lately," Boone said. "We've been getting beat up. But when you look at the eight (starters), they're all coming around.

"Casey's been swinging good with no results," he said. "Aaron had a good day the other day. Larkin is solid. Griffey is solid. I'm pleased with Larson and LaRue."

If Kearns doesn't hit fourth, it could be Dunn, Casey or Larson.

Bob Boone said he'll vary the middle of the lineup throughout the season.

"It will depend on how they're swinging," he said.

Larkin, Aaron Boone and Griffey will be 1, 2 and 3 in the foreseeable future - probably.

Griffey could be dropped to fourth.

"I've thought about it," Bob Boone said. "It could happen. It won't happen on Opening Day. If somebody starts really knocking the tar out of the ball, we could do that."

Boone has been talking a lot recently about how important it is for the starting eight to produce.

Among those on the bench - catcher Kelly Stinnett, infielder Felipe Lopez and outfielders Wily Mo Pena, Reggie Taylor and Ruben Mateo - only Stinnett has more than 550 career at-bats.

Of the five extra men, three have struggled this spring. Taylor is hitting .241 and is hitless in his last 15 at-bats. Mateo is hitting .203 and has three hits in his last 23 at-bats. Stinnett is hitting .167.

"Our eight (starters) have to produce," Boone said. "We know that."

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com