The Chicago White Sox are sitting in a much better position this season then they were last season at this point, well at least record wise. At this point last season the Sox were 18-25 and 7.5 games out of first, in contrast they are currently 22-26 and trail the Cleveland Indians by nine games. The Sox did not get to .500 last season until June 20, while it seems like they should be three weeks ahead of that pace.

What does it all mean?

While the 2011 Sox made things hard on themselves, they’ve rebounded sooner then last season as they’ve gone 11-4 in their last 15 games. If they have the same success on their latest road trip this week as they did on their West Coast swing a few weeks ago, they should finish the week at .500.

The only team that has played consistently well in the AL Central has been the Cleveland Indians, but the Sox have beat them four out-of-five times. Every time it looks like the Tigers are going to get going they hit a wall, like the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. The Tigers lost five-in-a-row including two-out-of-three to the Pirates this weekend, with the Pirates giving Max Scherzer his first loss of the season.

Kansas City has come down to earth, and the only question for Minnesota is when do we rebuild for next season? The Sox reached an all-time low at 9.5 games out when they began their 25-5 run, the Twins are 14.5 games back with only 15 wins, the fewest in baseball. Can’t say that I feel a bit sorry for the Twins.

Paul Konerko said it best, “We’re doing it right, we’re not thinking about the standings, thinking about the record, just kind of playing each day for what it is.”

Tonight another weapon returns to the White Sox lineup, Carlos Quentin, who sat out the last two games with a bruised knee. John Danks will try for his first win of the season against his former team, the Texas Rangers, in Arlington Texas. It should be a good one with Danks squaring off against newcomer, Alexi Ogando, making his ninth Major League start.