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After going through some mid-season adjustments following the crackdown on "sticky stuff" and then losing time after a bout of COVID, Gerrit Cole has returned to top form. Friday's night win in Oakland was the third straight strong start for the Yankees ace, who has allowed one run in 17-2/3 innings since returning to action.

What a week for Noah Syndergaard! I saw him working out on the field Wednesday afternoon. The next day, he threw an inning for the Mets' Brooklyn farm club. But Sunday, just before his next schedule rehab appearance, we learned that he'd tested positive for COVID 19. Will he ever get back on a major league mound before becoming a free agent this winter?
Healthy and productive again in his 14th big league season, Johnny Cueto still presents an imposing figure on the mound for the NL West leading Giants. He'll also be a 2022 free agent; this year's work will likely land this 35-year old another contract.
Before helping start the thumbs-down mocking of Mets fans, I caught Javier Baez in a New York uniform last Wednesday night. With the team having lost two thirds of its games in August, anyone close to the club is going to be frustrated. But alienating the paying customers, either at the ballpark or via pay-TV, is the wrong way to go.
A nice week for Aaron Judge, who had multiple hits in five straight games last week, a career best.
Jerry Koosman, who played second  fiddle to Tom Seaver on the Mets' winning teams of the late '60s and '70s, received the spotlight Saturday night when the club retired his uniform number 36 -- joining Seaver and Mike Piazza as the franchise's only players so honored. The rural Minnesota native made his mark in the big city -- winning 140 games as a Met, plus firing that complete game victory over the Orioles to close out the 1969 World Series. Talk about numbers you won't see duplicated: Koosman totaled 108 complete games in a Mets uniform.
Finally, a moment of late summer calm and perfection. A few minutes before 4 last Wednesday at Citi Field, just before the players took the field for pre-game practice.





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