Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks poll results

Entering the Cubs’ weekend series in Cincinnati, one man topped the charts on an excellent offensive team in both batting average (.289) and OPS (1.004).

Come on, who else? Of course it was Carson Kelly.

In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on the social platform X, we wanted to know which Cub you’d want at the dish right now — emphasis on “right now” — with the game on the line. Practically nobody voted for Kelly, the poor guy.

“This is literally the easiest question ever,” commented @Davey_Baseball, who likely opted for Kyle Tucker as most did.

Next, we asked for your first baseman in a dream White Sox lineup.

“As much as I love Dick Allen,” @JeffreyCanalia wrote, “Frank Thomas was one of the best pure hitters in baseball history.”

“Any answer that isn’t Frank is wrong,” was @lennyzelms’ verdict.

Last, we asked for your reaction to the Blackhawks’ hiring of Jeff Blashill as coach.

“How can you be enthusiastic?” @simcox_gm wrote. “Second-rate candidate at best — all we are as a franchise.”

On to the polls:

Poll No. 1: Which Cubs hitter would you want up right now with the game on the line?

Upshot: Just spitballing here, but hear us out — if Tucker is such an obvious answer, maybe the Cubs should drop the shenanigans and extend his contract.

Poll No. 2: Who’s the first baseman in your dream White Sox lineup?

Upshot: The Sox WARs for Konerko (29.3, 16 years) and Abreu (31.1, nine years) apparently mean nothing. Thomas’ own (68.3, 16 years) puts a big hurt on the rest of the field regardless.

Poll No. 3: What’s your initial take on the Blackhawks’ hiring of Jeff Blashill as coach?

Upshot: We’ll see if Blashill (pronounced “BLASH-ihl”) can turn around a team that has finished in sixth place or lower in its division for eight seasons in a row (pronounced “TRASH-ihl”).