CHICAGO -- In a year worth forgetting, the Chicago White Sox at least can hope 2015 will be known for being the season that Carlos Rodon and Trayce Thompson arrived.

Thompson had a hit and a walk in Sunday’s season finale, a 6-0 defeat to the Detroit Tigers, and became a bright spot in an otherwise dark season. Rodon, who last pitched on Sept. 25 in New York against the Yankees, was another light through the gloom that was this year.

Somewhat of a surprise call-up at the start of August, Thompson was given time to ease himself into the flow of things. Playing primarily against left-handed pitching, he was batting a robust .519 through his first 13 games and still had his batting average over .400 24 games into his major league career in the middle of September.

“It has been just an opportunity to show what you can do, and a lot of the young guys got an opportunity,” Thompson said. “It’s a preview of next year to see if you can handle it here, and I was just trying to play as hard as I could every day.”

Rodon’s arrival and success was less surprising, although it took him a bit longer to settle in. The left-hander, who was a first-round draft pick last year, struggled with some command issues early, but once he dialed in his location and learned to trust his defense, he began to show his giant upside.

Rodon’s ERA was as high as 5.00 at the start of August, but it plummeted to 3.75 by the end of the year. And while he did walk five Yankees batters in his final start of the season, his two runs allowed over six innings were a marked improvement over the eight runs he gave up to the same team at home on July 31.

Rodon gives the White Sox a viable addition to its starting rotation next season as the club weighs its options for pitchers to line up behind ace Chris Sale.

“Any time you see a guy come up and contribute like that who’s been in your system and now gets a chance to play up here, it’s good for not only up here but your [player development] department and the minor leagues,” manager Robin Ventura said. “Guys feel there is an avenue to get up here and contribute and play.”

The real upshot of all of it might just be that the White Sox finally have multiple prospects ready to reach the highest level at the same time. A system that had been ignored far too long by a limited financial investment is finally moving product again.

In addition to Rodon and Thompson, Carlos Sanchez looks ready to be a mainstay at second base, rebounding from some offensive struggles early in the year to give the White Sox an impressive all-around game in the second half.

The club also has infielder Micah Johnson and pitcher Frankie Montas close to breaking through, although as a second baseman, Johnson is now blocked by Sanchez. Montas started Sunday’s season finale against the Tigers, and although he walked three batters, he struck out seven over four innings and gave up just one run.

The most highly touted prospect of all, though, is shortstop Tim Anderson, who is expected to get an invite to major league camp at spring training next year. Anderson had a breakout season at Double-A Birmingham, batting .312 with a .350 on-base percentage.

This was a breakout season for Thompson, too. A .240 hitter in the minor leagues, his outfield defense has been major league ready for some time now. His offense finally is catching up.

“You just try to play hard every day and try to make the best impression you can leave,” Thompson said. “Leave them with a good impression of you going into the offseason and hopefully come back next year ready to go and make a strong impact.”

After hurting his elbow while playing the outfield in mid-September, Thompson’s production cooled, but he still hit three doubles, two triples and a home run down the stretch, even if his batting average was .207 over his last 17 games.

He already had opened enough eyes by then, as did a few other youngsters.

“This was the season for me,” Thompson said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and it’s about time I had one of these seasons and I got up here and helped the team. I’ll think about it this next week or so, and I’ll talk to some of the coaches and ask for advice going into the offseason. It will be special to think about this and how everything went.”