Dusty Baker insisted his wounds have not just healed over, but are now “keloid,” a type of scar that grows atop old cuts.

Knowing full well the stir it might create, Baker said hours after the Reds announced that pitcher Mark Prior has joined the team’s camp in Goodyear that he isn’t worried about distractions, feeling Prior deserves another chance.

Before his team lost to the Royals 3-2 at Surprise Stadium on Friday, Baker hinted at the pain a suggested cover-up of Prior’s arm created nearly a decade ago.

Perhaps the most stinging criticism of Baker’s lengthy managerial career circles around the former Cubs phenom, who had arm issues after a scintillating 2003 season that saw him post an 18-6 record.

Prior missed the first two months of the following season with what the team called an Achilles’ tendon injury, a claim later disputed by an assistant trainer, Sandy Krum, who once worked for the club. In a TV interview back in 2005, Krum suggested the team knew Prior had elbow problems but that Cubs’ general manager Jim Hendry said: “This is what we’re going with,” in regards to the Achilles.

Baker said the incident made him uncomfortable, and at the time he was ready to face any scrutiny for Prior’s high pitch counts.

“That was probably one of the sickest days I had was that spring training. He sat in my office, and I was kind of told, which I’ll never do again, I was told to cover it up, or (say) that it was another injury to postpone, y’know, the criticism and ridicule,” Baker said on Friday.

“I said, ‘Hey, I’m ready to take it.’ But sometimes you get a mandate to do things a different way and I didn’t like that. Never, ever again in life will I cover up anything or be part of a lie.”

Prior struggled through injuries from that point, posting a record of 18-17 over the next three seasons.

He’s pitched in the minors for affiliates of the Rangers, Yankees, and Red Sox, and last year made 19 appearances in Triple-A Pawtucket, finishing with a 3.96 earned run average.

Now just 32, he called Baker in the off-season and asked for another chance.

“He’s never asked me for anything,” Baker said of Prior. “He said, ‘Hey man, I’d like to try it one more time.’ And I said, ‘Hey, if I can help you, I’ll try to make the opportunity available to you.’ So I called (Reds GM) Walt (Jocketty) and said he had been throwing and working out. So we’ve got him in camp.”

According to Baker, Prior understands his limitations, which have changed since the 2003 season in which he finished third in the National League’s Cy Young Award voting and was named an All-Star.

“He said he doesn’t have quite the same velocity, but that he has savvy. He’s probably a reliever now, versus a starter,” Baker said.

Of course, Baker said he discussed with Prior what his arrival in Goodyear might create.

“I told him, ‘Hey man, you know it’s gonna cause a big story.’ I don’t care,” Baker said. “I care about the man. It’s gonna open old wounds, but my wounds are keloid at this time.”

Latos settling in: Speaking of Baker’s relationships with players, Friday’s starter Mat Latos said he respects his manager’s frank approach, and added that he’s feeling more comfortable in his second spring with the club.

“He’s a good manager, he’s a player’s manager. He likes to know what’s going on with his players, period,” said Latos, who gave up a hit in two innings Friday. “And he wants to be in on the mix. It’s not like hearing it from the training staff or hearing it from the front office, or another coach.”

Votto wins: Joey Votto was named the Face of MLB in a Twitter contest that pitted him against other stars like Joe Mauer, Jose Bautista, Derek Jeter and Andrew McCutchen before beating Matt Kemp of the Dodgers in the final.

Extra bases: Shin Soo-Choo was scheduled to make his sixth appearance of the spring, but was a late scratch with what Baker called “tightness.” Also, Ryan Hanigan was taken out of the lineup. … Devin Mesoraco got the start in place of Hanigan, and hit his second homer of the spring.