Wily Mo Pena had been appearing once a week for the Reds, which is good if you're a paycheck but not if you play baseball. Occasionally, the Reds equipment guys would dust him off and pull the splinters from his uniform pants.

Pena has great potential, apparently, but it wasn't being served in Cincinnati, where, potentially, he might have rusted during a hard rain. So it was a stroke of luck for Pena and the club Friday when he pulled his right hamstring while running out a flyball.

We say right hamstring because that is what the Reds said. Not to suggest anything. But it was interesting when Pena grabbed his left thigh after he pulled his right hamstring. Maybe the pain radiated from left to right.

"The chances of him playing the next four or five days aren't very good," team medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek said Sunday. "It's probably a smart move, especially with his other hamstring."

Kremchek operated on that one last fall.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's game

Pena can take a maximum of 20 days on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment. He could get more at-bats in those 20 days than the 35 he's had here in the last three months. There's always the chance Pena could re-injure the muscle, in which case he could rehab longer. And we all know how tricky those darned hamstrings can be. No telling how much hitting, er, rehabbing Wily will need down there.

In 1999, the Yankees signed Pena to a five-year major league contract. He's out of options. If the Reds wanted to send him to the minors, where he desperately needs to be, every other team would have to pass on him. That wouldn't happen.

Some team like Detroit or another would grab Pena, play him every day and see what happens. General manager Jim Bowden thinks in five years, 21-year-old Wily Mo could be another Sammy Sosa, and what if the Reds let him go?

The only way out of this ridiculous situation would be to release Pena. Or trade him. Or send him on a minor-league rehab assignment if he gets hurt. For Wily's sake, Wily should have popped that left/right thigh/hamstring awhile ago.

Pena is symbolic of the Reds roster these days. They lost for the 11th time in 15 games Sunday, partly because Bob Boone decided Paul Wilson could throw just 90 pitches before his arm turned into a pumpkin. Wilson left after seven tidy innings, with a 5-2 lead the bullpen quickly detonated.

Boone explained it was "the weather" and Wilson's "history'' that forced his hand. Todd Van Poppel, who also has some history, replaced Wilson. And that was that.

Boone's other point was his roster is depleted. Gabe White and Kent Mercker are out, Chris Reitsma and Scott Sullivan pitched Saturday. This isn't a well-assembled team when it's healthy. When it's not, you have games like Sunday. Which brings us back to Wily Mo. What sort of flexibility does Boone have when he has Pena, but so little pitching depth he has to go to a four-man rotation?

It doesn't make sense to keep a player for his potential, then squash it by not playing him. Wily Mo, bless him, might as well be a batboy. Or a bat rack. Get your hacks while on rehab, Wily. And take care of that hamstring.

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E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com