The Yankees knew they were getting a young, power-armed pitcher when they acquired Albert Abreu from the Astros in the Brian McCann trade last November. The 21-year-old right-hander fit that description to a T on Wednesday night, as he struck out a career-high 11 hitters in 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his second start for Class A Charleston.
"I think he was pleased with the way he threw the ball," RiverDogs pitching coach Justin Pope told MiLB.com. "He was able to control his fastball in the zone and was getting his changeup and curveball over for strikes as well. ... He's got electric stuff, no question about it."
Abreu, the Yankees' No. 11 prospect, gave up just two hits (both singles) and reached triple digits with his fastball on multiple occasions before reaching his pitch count -- he threw 61 of his 83 pitches for strikes -- in the top of the sixth inning. The performance netted Abreu his first win of the season, as Charleston held on to shut out Augusta, 4-0.

Abreu has permitted just one earned run on five hits in his two starts for the RiverDogs. What's more, the Dominican Republic native has compiled 17 strikeouts against one walk over 9 2/3 innings in that span.
The rest of the best performances from top prospects Wednesday
• No. 1 overall prospectYoan Moncada (White Sox No. 1) continued his early-season assault on International League pitching by going 2-for-4 with a double in Triple-A Charlotte's loss against Durham. The 21-year-old second baseman owns a .387 average (12-for-31) and has notched at least one hit in six of seven games so far for the Knights.
• No. 29 overall prospect Brent Honeywell (Rays' No. 2) yielded one earned run on one hit -- a solo home run in the second inning -- in seven innings against Birmingham to pick up his first win of the season for Double-A Montgomery. The 22-year-old righty has been outstanding through two starts, posting a 2.08 ERA with 20 strikeouts and just four hits allowed in 13 innings.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Honeywell records eighth K - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1279815683

• No. 31 overall prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays' No. 1) hit his second home run in seven games and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Class A Lansing in a losing effort against Bowling Green. The 18-year-old third baseman has opened the season batting .364 with a .682 slugging and more walks (six) than strikeouts (three).
• No. 92 overall prospect Jeimer Candelario (Cubs' No. 4) increased his Minor League-leading RBI total to 15 with his third five-RBI performance of the young season. He finished the game 4-for-4 -- with three doubles and a triple -- at the dish, while Ian Happ (Cubs' No. 2, No. 25 overall) connected on his fourth home run and tallied three runs and three RBIs.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Happ homers again - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1280303683

• D-backs' No. 30 prospectChristian Walker hit a pair of home runs and went 3-for-5 with three RBIs for Triple-A Reno, though his big night at the plate wasn't enough to keep the Aces from the dropping the contest to Albuquerque. The 26-year-old first baseman-outfielder now has three homers in his past two games, and he's tallied an RBI in six of seven games to open the season.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Walker goes deep again - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1280304583

• Nationals' No. 3 prospect Juan Soto went 3-for-5 with his first full-season home run and three RBIs to help power Class A Hagerstown past Lakewood, 10-2. The 18-year-old outfielder is hitting .464 (13-for-28) through seven games for the Suns after posting a robust .368/.420/.553 slash line last summer en route to MVP honors in the Rookie Gulf Coast League.
• Rangers' No. 6 prospect Joe Palumbo surrendered an unearned run on two hits and racked up 10 strikeouts in six innings to pace Class A Advanced Down East in a 6-1 victory over Winston-Salem. He generated another seven outs via ground balls in the outing, which saw the 22-year-old righty throw strikes with 60 of his 81 pitches.
• Reds' No. 10 prospectTyler Mahle was perfect for five innings before giving up a single and a pair of walks to begin his sixth inning of work. The right-hander ultimately tossed seven innings of one-hit ball, striking out six and walking two while throwing 55 of 86 pitches for strikes. He's now 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA in two starts (12 2/3 innings) for the Blue Wahoos.

MILB Video - Title: Watch: Mahle twirls gem - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=1279990083

• Royals' No. 22 prospect Foster Griffin tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, for Class A Advanced Wilmington in an extra-inning loss against Carolina. The 21-year-old lefty struck out six and did not issue a walk in the outing to improve his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 14-to-0 through 11 innings (two starts). He's given up just one earned run in that span, while holding opposing hitters to a .135 average.
• White Sox No. 9 prospect Alec Hanson struck out nine hitters in five innings in his second start for Class A Kannapolis. The 2016 second-rounder allowed one earned run on five hits and walked one while throwing 59 of his 89 pitches for strikes as the Intimidators fell to Rome, 4-3.