Chicago another region outside mid-Atlantic with optimistic starts in 2016

The Nationals and Orioles are giving mid-Atlantic baseball fans reasons to believe this season is going to be special. But this isn't the only region that's excited about how the first three weeks have gone.

Check out Chicago.

The Cubs, picked by many to win their first World Series since 1908, are leading the National League Central, and the White Sox - the team from the Chicago's South Side - are off to their best start since 2006, winning 13 of their first 19. The White Sox hope that a successful April will start the turnaround from last season's 76-win team.

The White Sox, who begin a four-game series in Baltimore Thursday, start the week with the lowest ERA (2.28) in the American League. The White Sox have four lefties and a right-hander in their rotation, and it's the right-hander - Mat Latos - that is the big story.

Latos is 4-0 with a 0.74 ERA and so far at least, the White Sox's $3 million gamble on a pitcher that no team seemed to want is working out well.

He's 28 and has a reputation for being hard to manage. But there's no denying his stuff when he's healthy. After five strong seasons for San Diego and Cincinnati, Latos was miserable for the Marlins, Dodgers and Angels last season. Health, better fastball command and better location with his slider are the reasons for his fast start.

The White Sox's rotation might not be a fluke. Chris Sale has a 1.80 ERA and three walks in 30 innings. Carlos Quintana, as underrated as they come, is at 1.82 and Carlos Rodon, 23, has a deceiving 4.05 ERA. Rodon has pitched at least six innings in three of four starts. His ERA soared when he couldn't get out of the first inning in a game against the Angels.

The White Sox are proof that a strong rotation is more important than a big-bang lineup with no pitching. The White Sox have the lowest ERA (2.28) in the league, but are second-to-last in run production (61).

The White Sox are doing just enough to score runs. Left fielder Melky Cabrera is the team's leading hitter.

Two of their new players are living up to potential. Todd Frazier has five home runs and Brett Lawrie, who went from Toronto to Oakland to Chicago, is hitting .299 and has been tough in the clutch. Outfielder Austin Jackson, a player the Orioles considered, is hitting .193.

The Cubs have lights-out pitching and Jake Arrieta is the big news after throwing his second no-hitter in a 16-0 win against Cincinnati. Arrieta threw a no-hitter against the Dodgers last August.

But Arrieta's 0.87 ERA is only second-best on the team behind Jason Hammel, who is at 0.75. The Cubs are hoping that Hammel will not repeat last year, when he had a strong first half and then tailed off in August and September, because at 37, John Lackey, the free-agent the Cubs signed away from St. Louis, has been shaky. The Cubs need a consistent Hammel all the way through.

Dexter Fowler, who nearly signed with the Orioles, is hitting .385 for the Cubs. Another new acquisition, Ben Zobrist, has had an average start. Kris Bryant is warming up and Anthony Rizzo, an NL MVP candidate last season, is all-or-nothing in April with eight home runs and a .205 average going into this week.

Now for some other thoughts:

* With his dramatic pinch-hit home run Sunday, the Nationals' Bryce Harper has nine home runs to go with his nine strikeouts. Harper, the unanimous NL MVP last season, is the closest player baseball has to Barry Bonds, a seven-time National League MVP who led the league in walks 12 times. For the record, Bonds in 2004 hit 45 home runs with 41 strikeouts. Two years before that, Bonds hit 46 home runs with 47 strikeouts.

* Atlanta has a five-game losing streak. Here's why: Of the 50 hits they've had during the streak, 44 have been singles. They have struck out 45 times and scored 11 runs.

* Minnesota center fielder Byron Buxton, considered one of the top prospects in the game, has blazing speed but appears overmatched in the early going. He made some rangy defensive plays against the Nationals Sunday and Nats outfielder Jayson Werth robbed Buxton of a home run Friday night. The Twins believe that Buxton will be a catalyst at the top of their order when he learns to hit curveballs.

* Speaking of the Twins, they wore purple arm bands Friday in memory of Prince, their hometown music legend who died last week. I asked another Minnesota hero, Twins first baseman Joe Mauer, for some memories of Prince, but the two had never met, which seemed strange. "He was more of a basketball fan,'' Mauer said. "I saw him at Timberwolves games, but I never got to meet him.''

* The sad story from last week was the 80-game suspension of Toronto's Chris Colabello for a positive steroids test. Everyone likes a rags-to-riches story and that's exactly what Colabello was all about. He played seven seasons in independent leagues before he signed with Minnesota and then hit .321 with 15 home runs for the Blue Jays last season.