Freel's frustrated, really frustrated

Ryan Freel isn't in the lineup for tonight's game with Cardinals. I approached him for a "Gee, you're hitting well" note. I got a little more of a story.

Freel is angry and frustrated.

"I'm trying to be careful about what I say,” Freel said. “I've really got nothing good to say right now. There was a lot of stuff said that misinterpreted or mis-communicated this offseason."

"It would have stunned a lot of people if they heard what was said about me. Apparently, I said I couldn't play every day to the manager. Apparently, I told him that this offseason. That would have never come out of mouth."

Therein lies the problem. Freel thinks that Dusty Baker misunderstanding of something Freel said led to some of the moves the Reds made -- like bringing in Corey Patterson to play center field and leadoff.

"I talked to Wayne (Krivsky) to tell him I didn't say that," Freel said. "I would never in a million years say that. They gave me a two-year ($7 million) deal. I don't think it was to do this. It's frustrating. I can't explain it. There’s a lot going on. It's a shame that I had to address it like this. I didn't want to get the media involved."

Freel and Baker have talked.

"It was a misunderstanding," Baker said. "I thought it was over. It's over as far as I'm concerned."

But Freel remains frustrated. He's clearly outhit Patterson lately. Freel was 5-for-11 with two doubles and three RBI in the San Francisco series. He's made eight starts. He's had hits in last seven. He's hitting .387 with a .424 on-base percentage in his starts.

Freel admits he wasn't very good last year. But he spent most of the year injured or coming back from injuries.

"I wouldn't talk about this if we were winning. But we're losing. This isn't team we are. We're not an under .500 team. It's kind of hard to do anything about it when you're sitting around playing only every four days. I wasn't the issue before last year.”

Freel hit .245 with .308 on-base last year with 15 steals.

"They never gave me an opportunity to come in and rebound from last year."