CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox starting pitcher John Danks said he took a step forward in his shoulder rehab after a long-toss session and throwing 20 pitches off the mound on Tuesday.

Danks has been on the disabled list since May 20 due to soreness his left throwing shoulder. He last pitched for the White Sox on May 19. He made a rehab start in Triple-A on June 12 and again felt shoulder soreness following the start.

“I think the most gratifying part was getting on the mound because that’s what we’re working toward, but all of it is good,” Danks said after his pitching session on Tuesday. “Being able to go out the there and throw 120, 130 feet and then to work it back in and to be able to get on the mound and throw from there, it’s a big step. We’ll see how it goes from there, but today is a good day so far.

“Am I ready to go pitch somewhere? No, but this was a necessary step. Hopefully, tomorrow it bounces back, and that will tell us what we need to know. That’s kind of been the biggest problem. Every time I’ve gotten to this point, it’s taken me a day or two to be able to do it again. We’re working on strength. It’s been a while since I’ve thrown. It’s going to be a process. We’re trying to speed it up as much as we can.”

White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said he would see how Danks felt on Wednesday and decide the next step from there. Cooper said Danks might throw again on Thursday or Friday.

“We’re making some move forward, which is better than where we were at,” Cooper said. “For us to be able to do what we did today is definitely a step.”

Danks still didn’t have a timetable on when he might return to the rotation. He was hopeful of late August, but he couldn’t say for certain.

“When it initially happened, I didn’t initially think I needed to even go on the DL,” said Danks, who is 3-4 with a 5.70 ERA in nine starts this season. “Thought I’d miss a start or push me back a couple days and go from there. This thing has kind of taken a lot longer than we expected. I wish I had an answer for you. I hope late August, but this is uncharted territory for me. I’ve never dealt with a shoulder problem.”