By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

By the time he arrived at Great American Ball Park on Wednesday afternoon to rejoin the Reds, Austin Kearns had put his anger and frustration behind him.

At least he said he had.

Kearns, who went on the 15-day disabled list after fracturing his left forearm on April 26, spent 22 days on the DL, even though he says he was ready to return earlier.

He made eight appearances on injury rehab at Class AAA Louisville, where he hit .357 with two home runs and eight RBI.

The longer he spent in Louisville, the more he wondered what was going on.

"Honestly, yeah, I was upset or mad," Kearns said. "If you had caught me a couple of days ago, you might have got a different response from me. But I just said, 'The heck with it. I'm just going to go out here and play. They can do what they want to do.' "

Kearns, who turns 24 today, was back in the lineup Wednesday in right field. Utility man Jason Romano was outrighted to Louisville to open a roster spot for him.

The official line from Reds management was that Kearns, who was hitting only .137 when he got hurt, including just two hits in his previous 23 at-bats, needed more time to reclaim the swing that was so effective early last season.

But eight games and 22 days seemed like a bit of rehab overkill to Kearns and to some of his teammates.

"I told you all he was ready about 10 days ago," said catcher Jason LaRue, who was with Kearns at Louisville for a three-day rehab.

Kearns was hitting .309 with 13 home runs and 44 RBI last year when he injured his shoulder sliding into home plate on May 21.

Since then, he has hit .188 with four home runs and 19 RBI.

A healthy, productive right-handed hitting Kearns could provide a huge boost to the Reds, who have the middle of their lineup stacked with left-handed hitters.

It was for that very reason that Kearns thought he would be activated in time for Tuesday's series opener against the Rockies, who were pitching left-hander Shawn Estes. The Reds face another left-hander tonight in Joe Kennedy.

Instead, he found himself with his Louisville Bats teammates playing in Buffalo.

He learned after the Bats' game Tuesday night that he was being activated, although he said he suspected as much before the game when he was removed from the lineup as the right fielder and shifted to designated hitter.

Kearns was immediately thrust into the fifth spot in the batting order Wednesday between left-handed hitters Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn.

"He's a guy that from day one we had we projected to hit in-between some left-handers," said Reds manager Dave Miley. "We all know what he's capable of doing. He had to go down there and get his at-bats, but we're happy to have him today."

And Kearns was happy to be back, even if he wasn't all that happy about how long it took.

"I'm here to play for these guys that put a uniform every day," Kearns said. "That's all I care about. I know what they can do and they know what I can do."

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com