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Braves' Freddie Freeman visibly upset after being placed on DL

The Braves' Freddie Freeman was upset after the team placed him on the disabled list. (J. Meric/Getty Images)

The Braves' Freddie Freeman was upset after the team placed him on the disabled list. (J. Meric/Getty Images)

Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman was visibly irritated after the team placed him on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a strained right oblique muscle.

An upset Freeman told reporters that he was not counseled by management before it made its decision. And in a defiant move, he shagged fly balls Sunday before the Braves' game against the Chicago Cubs.

"They didn't even tell me anything," Freeman said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I don't know what's going on."

"It's not hurt to the point where I can't play," Freeman added. "I can play just fine. At least talk to me about it. You can't just make a decision without me knowing."

Freeman suffered the oblique injury during workouts last Sunday. He still played in all of the Braves' five games before Sunday. Freeman, a 23-year-old entering into his third full major-league season with the Braves, was hitting .412 with one homer and seven RBI before he was placed on the disabled list.

Braves general manager Frank Wren said the organization wanted to exercise caution early in the season after Freeman appeared to aggravate the injury in his last at-bat Saturday night.

“Obliques are going to be a couple weeks at minimum and, if you are really lucky, you can get a player back right after the ‘DL’ stint,” Wren told the Journal-Constitution. “But it’s not shortened any. Especially this early in the season, we are not going to take a chance to turn what could be a two to three-week (injury) into a six-to-eight week by tearing that oblique area.”