More playing time definitely would be all right with Baker

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

MILWAUKEE — Jeff Baker isn’t lobbying, but he’s ready if manager Mike Quade wants to ride his hot bat and start him against a right-hander or two.

“Whenever he wants me in there, I’m ready, whether it’s righty or lefty, between the legs — whatever it is,’’ the Cubs second baseman said after his 4-for-5, four-RBI game Friday.

Baker is off to an 8-for-19 (.421) start after leading off again Saturday night but was expected to return to the bench today with right-hander Yovani Gallardo starting for the Brewers.

“It’s one of those things,” Baker said. “On paper, I know how it looks, and understand how you’ve got to try to make it look a little better for you.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that things can change. Things can change quickly.’’

Actually, until last year’s eye-popping left-right difference created in part by a dearth of at-bats against righties (and many of those against late-inning relievers), Baker had fairly normal-looking career splits: .285 against lefties, .262 against righties.

Quade has said he expects his lineup to evolve, and he’s not ruling out an every-day assignment for Baker — but the other side of the odd righty-righty platoon is rookie Darwin Barney, who also has played well early.

“Hang in there with me, guys,’’ Quade says.

Nobody likes to be labeled aplatoon player, but Baker said the perception he has trouble with righties actually doesn’t bother him.

“Not really,’’ he said. “The bigger picture is winning.

“I played on a team in [Colorado in] 2007 where I didn’t get a whole lot of at-bats, but we went to the World Series, and it was the most fun I ever had playing baseball. It made it all worth it. Not one time did I sit there and think, ‘Man, I’m not playing enough’ or ‘I want to play more.’  ’’

Respect for Manny

There’s no disputing that many in the Cubs organization look with bitterness at a 2008 postseason that might have turned out differently had Manny Ramirez’s performance-enhancing-drug use been detected before he tested positive for a banned substance not long after his Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Cubs in the first round.

But Cubs reliever Sean Marshall, who gave up a Game 1 homer to Ramirez in that series, said he has no sour grapes over it and makes no excuses. And he wants to make it clear he wasn’t ripping Ramirez when he made a few light-hearted comments about the home run when asked Friday if he wanted it back.

“He’s a big-game player, he’s a Hall of Fame player,’’ said Marshall, whose comments were picked up nationally and used as an example of bitter reaction by some opponents to the potential impact of Ramirez’s PED use. “I have nothing but respect for the guy.”