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Jonah Tong, RHP, Mets: It's no secret that Mets righthander Jonah Tong has been one of the best performing starters in the minor leagues this season. If anybody in the Central Jersey area was still in the dark, they aren't anymore. Tong filleted Somerset's lineup for five fabulous innings on Wednesday, allowing no hits and three walks while striking out eleven Patriots. The outing was Tong's third this season with double-digit strikeouts and was two shy of the season-high he set on May 10—another hitless appearance—against Reading. He has 83 strikeouts in 49 innings with Binghamton.

Dustin Harris, OF, Rangers: The Rangers' outfield is crowded at the moment, but Harris used a standout performance on Wednesday to audition for a return trip to the big leagues. Facing Salt Lake, Harris led off and contributed four of his team's 26 hits en route to a 21-2 beatdown of the Bees. Those four hits? A single, a double, a triple and a home run. Around these parts, we call that a cycle. Did the home run come off of a position player? Yes, it did. Does it count just the same? Yes, it does. The triple and home run were the first of the year at Triple-A for Harris, who got 16 games with the big club earlier this year.

Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Twins: Most people don't get a second chance to make a first impression. Then again, Culpepper isn't most people. He's a Kansas State alum and the Twins' first-rounder from a summer ago. He's spent this season at High-A Cedar Rapids and hit leadoff in both ends of his team's doubleheader at Wisconsin on Wednesday. In the opener, Culpepper touched up starter Ryan Birchard for a leadoff homer, his seventh of the year. In the nightcap, he did it again. The victim this time was Stiven Cruz, who surrendered Culpepper's eighth homer of the year. Leadoff homers in both ends of a doubleheader happens only slightly more often than lightning striking a Sasquatch twice. According to Cedar Rapids broadcaster Calvin Christoforo, it's happened just four times in the big leagues, with Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. the last to pull off the feat.

Miguel Ullola, RHP, Astros: Ullola has had no problem taming the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. The latest example came Wednesday, when he struck out seven over five one-run innings. On the surface, that's a nice night. Not spectacular, just nice. Since May 1, however, the league has been at Ullola's mercy. From that stretch on, the righthander has gone 3-0, 0.96 and has allowed just 15 hits (but also 16 walks) in 28 innings. He's also racked up 41 strikeouts. If he can improve his control just a hair, a trip to Houston might be in the offing.

Bryce Rainer, SS, Tigers: Rainer injured his right shoulder diving back to first on a pickoff attempt in a game on Tuesday for Low-A Lakeland. Rainer was in visible agony and was immediately removed from the game. He was later seen wearing a sling on his right arm, according to The Detroit News. The Tigers have yet to issue an update.

“It doesn’t look good,” Lakeland manager Rene Rivera told The Detroit News after the game. “We’ll hope for the best. But we all saw it. Honestly, I was thinking the entire game about it. Seeing his face and the pain – we’ll just have to see what happens. But, unfortunately, he’s a big miss (absence). He’s a really great player. “It’s tough to swallow.”

Rainer, the 10th pick in last year's draft, hit .288/.383/.448 through 35 games in Lakeland. He has impressed scouts all season and was one of several players to rise once again our June Top 100 update, checking in at No. 29 in the latest update.

Editor’s Picks

Interesting Complex League Data: Geoff Pontes checks in on 10 hitters standing out so far in the Complex Leagues. Read more…

Top 100 Risers, Fallers: Here’s all the significant movement from our June Top 100 Prospects update. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.

Padres righthander Humberto Cruz is just 18 years old, but his pitch mix and demeanor on the mound point to a far more wizened player. The righthander is working to regain his strength after dealing with an injury during the early days of spring training, and Wednesday's 2.2-inning outing in the Arizona Complex League was the deepest he's worked in his pro career.

For the first two innings, Cruz was efficient, mixing a fastball with solid life through the zone with low-80s slider and the occasional mid-80s changeup. He showed feel to manipulate the break on the slider, proving at times he could add and subtract depth as well as landing the pitch in the zone or using it to get chase swings. Cruz was efficient and mostly dominant through the first two innings before running out of gas in the third inning. He would have completed the frame were a grounder to second not booted. Though the box score might not show it, Cruz showed plenty of upside on Wednesday, though it might take a bit longer to reach his ceiling.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Kumar Rocker returned to the big leagues on Wednesday, but gave u p five runs in 3.1 innings.

• The A’s recalled infielder Max Muncy from Triple-A Las Vegas.

• Twins outfielder Walker Jenkins began a rehab assignment yesterday in the Florida Complex League.

• Cardinals righty Tekoah Roby is in the midst of a solid stretch for Double-A Springfield. He pitched into the seventh inning for the first time yesterday, and he has a 1.90 ERA with 33 strikeouts to just two walks over his last 23.2 innings.

• Justin Foscue (Rangers) and Ricardo Olivar (Twins) each had two-homer games yesterday.