Dempster believes Cubs will do well in 2011

Back in the spring of 2008, pitcher Ryan Dempster went where few dared when he predicted a World Series title for the Cubs.

Dempster isn’t doing that these days, but he sees nothing wrong with expressing his opinion that the Cubs will play well this season.

The 33-year-old right-hander will start Friday’s opening-day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field.

“We’ve got to go out there and try and win our division and make the playoffs,” he said Thursday as the team worked out at Wrigley Field. “We’ve got a real good group of guys in here.

“We’ve got to play well. We’ve got to stay healthy. I like our team a lot. We set pretty high expectations for ourselves as individuals and even higher ones as a team.

“We pick ourselves to win ballgames and do well. Isn’t that kind of what we’re supposed to do?”

The kid earned it:

It might be a statement by manager Mike Quade. Whatever it is, Quade has decided to start rookie Darwin Barney at second base in the opener.

When spring training began, Barney was battling for the fifth-infielder’s spot. But a good Cactus League season by him and a poor one by Blake DeWitt changed things.

Barney is now sharing second base with Jeff Baker, who will start Saturday. DeWitt is the backup at both second and third base.

“There are a lot of guys who had good camps,” Quade said. “He (Barney) and Baker had great camps. I think they both earned a chance to play, and barring something crazy, Bake will play against the left-hander (Paul Maholm) Saturday.”

Weather or not:The weather was sunny but cold for Thursday#146;s workout. It#146;s supposed to stay cold Friday, and the Cubs and Pirates may have to deal with some precipitation.Mike Quade says he wants his team to embrace Wrigley in April.#147;The climate, we#146;d like to downplay that,#148; Quade said. #147;There are two teams out there tomorrow and whatever the weather is. You want to come to Chicago and play? Let#146;s go play in April. Let#146;s enjoy playing in April. It#146;s just the way it#146;s got to be.#148;A Starlin is born:Mike Quade joked that he wanted to see 2 errors and a .390 batting average this year from second-year shortstop Starlin Castro.Seriously, Quade isn#146;t putting number goals on Castro, but he thinks he#146;s got a keeper.#147;I don#146;t put numbers on anything,#148; Quade said. #147;I#146;d like to see him get better, and he was pretty good last year. Do the math. What#146;s better? How much is good? I#146;ve already been impressed by the way he#146;s conducted himself defensively in just the last four weeks in camp. And not just that he#146;s catching the ball, but the way he#146;s going it.#147;You can just see. It looks like he#146;s growing up right in front of you, and he#146;s learning. I#146;ve seen him handle a play this way last year and struggle with it. Now, boom, all of a sudden he#146;s calmer. He#146;s more understanding.#148;