Seeing the Chicago White Sox prospects thrive has been the one spring training bright spot

The present version of the Chicago White Sox big-league team is going to be awful this season.

Despite a massive thumping of the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, it was still a spring training game. Some of the pitchers the Mariners rolled out will likely be destined to be known for coaching high school baseball and great investment advisors.

Before that 18-9 blowout victory, the Sox had one of the worst OPS numbers in spring training. They dropped their first five spring training games and there was plenty of terrible play to provide a preview of another historically awful season to come.

That is why the final result should always be ignored because make no mistake about, the Sox are destined to lose 100 games this season.

However, it has been nice to see the team's prospects perform well in spring training.

Last week, young hurlers Sean Burke, Noah Schultz, and Hagen Smith provided a glimpse into better days ahead for the White Sox.

In the drubbing of the Mariners, the White Sox faithful got treated to seeing the No. 1 pick in the Rule 5 Draft, Shane Smith, absolutely light up the radar gun.

It was also nice to see him bounce back from a dreadful outing he had last week against the Texas Rangers. Smith will likely start the season in the bullpen since it is easy to stash him there as he has to be on the big-league roster all season to remain with the Sox.

Seeing him touch nearly 100mph on the gun gives you some hope he could be used in high-leverage situations.

Also, Sox fans got to see what rising pitching prospect Grant Taylor can do. He was throwing some serious heat too.

If he can stay healthy, he missed most of 2024 with a lat injury, Taylor will likely rise up the prospect rankings.

Taylor is just behind Schultz and Smith in terms of arms the Sox have in their system that possess ace stuff. If the Sox are going to get back to respectability (let's start there first since the Sox just set the record for most losses in a 162-game season), it will be because of the young pitching.

Seeing them thrive, even if it is small sample size, is reason to have some excitement for the future.

The hitting prospects have also provided some nice moments too.

Promising slugger George Wolkow also got to get into his first spring training game ever. He promptly lined a single. The hope is someday he is crushing home runs on the Southside if he can overcome his strikeout problem in the minors. Hey, baby steps.

Kyle Teel might have provided the highlight of spring training when he crushed a home run off baseball's best prospect Roki Sasaki in simulated game. He also has flashed some outstanding base running ability and all the tools that give you hope he will be future core piece.

Chase Meidroth proved he can be an on-base machine by drawing three walks in the Mariners game. Even last year's third-round pick, Nick McClain drove in two runs.

About the only worry the Sox have had with their young prospects is Colson Montgomery's back has flared up and has kept him off the field the past couple of days. He did homer in the White Sox first spring training game. Maybe this injury is a sign he should start the season in Triple-A to continue to work on some things before taking over as the everyday shortstop.

Of course, these sample sizes are small but given just how awful the Sox state has become, it is nice to see a glimmer of hope in spring training.