A glimpse of better days for Chicago White Sox was on display even in defeat

The Chicago White Sox look like they are midseason form with all the losing they are doing at the beginning of the spring training.

The Sox have lost their five exhibition games, and they are playing all their hits when it comes to how they are losing.

They have been blown out twice, blown a lead in another, and the relief group could not keep the game tied in yesterday's 3-1 defeat to the San Diego Padres. The offense is sputtering to produce hits as the Sox managed just two yesterday and the defense has been horrific.

These are trends that point toward the White Sox having better chances of flirting with breaking the record for most losses they just set rather than winning 20 more games from that horrific season.

There was a preview of better days ahead in yesterday's exhibition game.

The Sox rolled out promising young hurlers Sean Burke, Noah Schultz, and Hagen Smith.

Burke kicked off the game and looked strong in the first two innings. It was nice to see after he showed a ton of promise in a few late-season starts.

Burke is listed among the Athletic's Keith Law 25 rookies likely to make an impact this season (a subscription is required to access content linked). He is listed at No. 9 amonth the 25.

He allowed a hit, a walk, and struck out two. A run did score with him on the mound, but it was unearned thanks to a Miguel Vargas error.

Otherwise, Burke was pounding the strike zone and made a good case to be a part of the rotation once the team heads to Chicago at the end of March.

Schultz pitched in his first spring training game. It was a much-anticipated debut since he is considered the Sox's top prospect and the top left-handed pitching prospect according to MLB Pipeline.

He needed just eight pitches to get through the inning. It should have been a clean inning but once again Miguel Vargas made a terrible defensive play. What was neat was Noah's dad got to call him inducing a double-play groundball.

Finally, it was Hagen Smith's turn the next inning, and he got three outs via the strikeout.

It is also a welcomed sight watching these two young hurlers bond.

Seeing these three pitch well is a small preview of how the Sox can one day get back to being competitive.

While Schultz and Smith are destined to go to the minors this season to continue to refine their pitches and build up their left-arms to handle a big-league workload, these two have the potential to be All-Star pitchers for years to come.

Burke's injury history had him tumble down the prospect rankings, but he is still projected to be a very good big-league pitcher.

You mix in young throwers like Jonathan Cannon, Davis Martin, and Drew Thorpe, and the Sox have the makings of a dynamic pitching staff. Plus, Grant Taylor is another highly-regarded pitching prospect coming up behind Schultz and Smith.

Pitching will have to lead the way for this organization since the White Sox actually have a lot of viable arms capable of getting outs in the majors. Whereas the organization is still thin on impact bats.

It may have been a brief preview of better days ahead, but it was pleasant to see.