One imagines not all White Sox backers are quite as passionate about the team’s cadre of high-profile newcomers as Twitter user @showtimesamm, who writes in terms of “love” (rookie center fielder Luis Robert) and “lust” (the team’s free-agent additions) when sizing up what the whole lot of them can bring to the team equation in 2020.
“The Sox fan’s heart beats for one man, Luis Robert,” this irrepressibly zealous individual commented for “Polling Place,” your weekly home for Sun-Times sports polls on the social platform. “We’ve seen enough to make us foam at the mouth. The others were merely lured here, with [catcher Yasmani] Grandal taking the big deal which created the desired domino effect.”
There was more, too. About love and lust, but we mentioned that already.
The Sox added more talent during the offseason than perhaps any team in baseball. Heading into what once was expected to be a typical season, it was enormously exciting. Heading into a 60-game slate with the heavy backdrop of a pandemic, it’s still pretty dang exciting.
But Robert, the No. 3-ranked prospect in the game according to MLB Pipeline, wasn’t the top vote getter when we asked which newcomer Sox fans were banking on most. It wasn’t former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel, either, though @MatManz predicted the lefty would have a “Mark Buehrle-esque” effect on a young pitching staff.
It also wasn’t 37-year-old Edwin Encarnacion, who has a way of slugging 30-plus homers and driving in 100-plus home runs just because he got out of bed in the morning.
“Polling Place” threw a question about Cubs pitching — on the day manager David Ross named his Opening Day starter — and one about Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky out there, too. On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: Which White Sox newcomer are you counting on most in 2020?
"Polling Place" is here again. Vote as though the very survival of the species hangs in the balance. Selected comments will appear in print in Saturday's @suntimes.
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) July 16, 2020
1/3: Which #WhiteSox newcomer are you counting on most in 2020?
Upshot: How about that? The vote goes to Grandal. And — just saying — it should. He’s one of the best defensive catchers in the game, and his offense puts him up there with just about anyone at the position. If the Sox are going to contend this season, they’ll need pitchers to fall in line behind Grandal and hitters to learn a thing or two from his disciplined approach at the plate. The other guys are pretty promising, too.
Poll No. 2: Who’d be your pick for the Cubs’ Opening Day starter?
2/3: Who'd be your pick for the #Cubs' Opening Day starter?
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) July 16, 2020
Upshot: Ross went with Hendricks, a perfectly defensible move except for the fact that Darvish was signed to be the team’s ace. In Year 3 of Darvish’s six-year contract, will he finally be the Cubs’ best pitcher? Hendricks is as solid as a guy with a high-80s fastball can be, though, and Lester’s run as ace is over.
Poll No. 3: If all NFL preseason games are canceled, will Bears QB Mitch Trubisky have the edge to start?
3/3: If all NFL preseason games are canceled, will #Bears QB Mitch Trubisky have the edge to start?
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) July 16, 2020
Upshot: Some — like @scottbears85 — are convinced that Nick Foles is coach Matt Nagy’s “buddy” and was paid handsomely by the Bears to get under center and make things better. But if there are no preseason games, can Foles really rip the job from a former No. 2 overall draft pick? Maybe it’s just plain Trubisky by default. The last word goes to @ultramonkeytron: “Is ‘unfortunately’ an available answer?
