By John Fay and Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ty Howington had surgery on his left shoulder Thursday, continuing the Reds' incredible run of bad luck with pitching prospects.

Howington, a 24-year-old left-hander, had spent the entire season at extended spring training, trying to regain his velocity. The surgery was to repair a torn labrum in the front of his shoulder. He is expected to be ready in time for spring training.

The frequency with which Reds prospects have surgery is frightening. Consider: In 2003, Baseball America had six pitchers on the Reds' top 10 prospect list. Four - Howington, Chris Gruler, Bobby Basham and Josh Hall - are rehabilitating from surgery. A fifth - Richard Aramboles - is trying to regain his form after a previous surgery.

In addition, five prospects the Reds have obtained - Philip Dumatrait, D.J. Mattox, Luke Hudson, Jeff Austin and Chris Booker - are also in various stages of recovering from surgery.

General manager Dan O'Brien thinks the steps the Reds have taken in the last year will stem the trend.

"All I can tell you is most, if not all, of the surgeries that have taken place are from injuries that have histories of the last year and beyond," he said. "We've been diligent with our rehabs without results, so we went with surgical invention with hopes they'll be ready in '05."

O'Brien instituted strict pitch counts in the minor leagues after taking over as GM.

"We've been remarkably free of injuries," he said.

Howington was the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft and was signed for nearly $2 million. He has had some success - he was rated the No. 2 left-hander in all the minors by Baseball America in 2001 - but he has battled injury in his four years in the minors.

He had elbow surgery to remove bone spurs in March of 2001. He missed six weeks in 2002 with shoulder tendinitis.

INJURY UPDATE: Help isn't on the way from Triple-A Louisville, where both Brandon Larson and John Vander Wal are on rehab assignments.

Vander Wal is coming back from Jan. 27 knee surgery.

"(Vander Wal) has some acceleration and deceleration issues both in the field and running the bases," O'Brien said. "No one can prognosticate when those issues will be resolved."

O'Brien said Larson, who is coming back from a strained quad, will be evaluated series by series. Larson is slated to play in the four-game series with Pawtucket that ends Tuesday. He won't return until the Reds' three-game home series with Montreal June 4-6.

It would be good to have Vander Wal for the six-game interleague run June 7-13 at Oakland and Cleveland, where the Reds will use a designated hitter.

"We just don't know (if he'll be ready)," O'Brien said.

GRAVES SITUATION: Danny Graves' arm doesn't feel any different after three days off.

But his head is considerably clearer.

"(Wednesday), I just felt like I was in la-la land," Graves said. "My mind was just boggled. Mentally, it's draining."

Before the three-day respite, Graves had pitched five of six days and eight of 10.

"That's a lot," Graves said. "I'm not complaining. But it's better to rest now than have a problem in August or September."

A BREAK FROM STARTING: After eight consecutive starts at third base, Ryan Freel started Thursday on the bench.

The Reds utility man has started 36 of the team's 47 games.

"I feel good," said Freel, who had a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning. "Nothing on my body is really bothering me."

Freel missed time last season with a torn left hamstring and a strained right hamstring. Extra conditioning work before spring training, in addition to staying properly hydrated, has helped him avoid any further problems.

"A lot of water, that's the key," Freel said. "A lot of water before I go to bed and right when I wake up in the morning."

EXTRA BASES: With his double in the third inning, Reds shortstop Barry Larkin's double in the third inning was his 700th career extra-base hit. Pete Rose (868) and Johnny Bench (794) are the only other Reds players with more.

Thursday's double was the 433rd of Larkin's career. He also has 75 triples and 192 home runs.