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Prospect Roundup: Games of April 15

Skubal comes up aces, Woods Richardson piling up zeros
Tarik Skubal has an ERA of 0.70 and is averaging more than 12 strikeouts per nine innings in his career. (Joshua Tjiong/MiLB.com)
April 16, 2019

Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal, Class A Advanced Lakeland: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K -- The jump from short-season competition to the Florida State League has gone about as smooth as possible for Detroit's No. 20 prospect. Skubal tossed 58 of 81 pitches for strikes and retired

Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal, Class A Advanced Lakeland: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K -- The jump from short-season competition to the Florida State League has gone about as smooth as possible for Detroit's No. 20 prospect. Skubal tossed 58 of 81 pitches for strikes and retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced while establishing a new career high in strikeouts. His six scoreless frames lowered his ERA to 1.13 through three starts with Lakeland. The 22-year-old has fashioned an impressive 20-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first 16 innings while posting an 0.63 WHIP and an opponent's batting average of .135. Through 12 career appearances -- including four starts -- Skubal is 4-1 with a 0.70 ERA and is averaging 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings. Gameday box score

Brewers OF Tyrone Taylor, Triple-A San Antonio: 4-for-5, RBI, R, SB -- Although it wasn't enough to lift his team to victory, the No. 29 Brewers prospect continued his hot start to the year with his eighth career game of four or more hits, first since Aug. 19. The 25-year-old has hit safely in eight of the Missions' 11 games while notching multi-hit efforts four times. Taylor is batting .326/.383/.651 with seven extra-base hits and nine RBIs. The Brewers' 2015 second-rounder established numerous career highs last year with Triple-A Colorado Springs, putting together a .278/.321/.504 line with 20 homers and 80 RBIs in 119 contests. Top Milwaukee prospect Keston Hiura tripled, doubled and drove in a run for San Antonio. Gameday box score
Phillies SS Nick Maton, Class A Advanced Clearwater: 2-for-5, HR, 3B, 5 RBIs, R -- A slow start for the 22-year-old picked up steam after his breakout performance on Monday. The No. 18 Phillies prospect slugged a three-run homer to right field in the second and picked up two more RBIs with a triple to right in the ninth. The five RBIs eclipsed his previous career high of four set last Aug. 15 with Class A Lakewood against Rome. Maton entered the game with one extra-base hit -- a homer -- in his first 35 at-bats. Gameday box score
Pirates RHP JT Brubaker, Triple-A Indianapolis: 5 1/3 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K -- Handed a four-run lead, the 25-year-old was on cruise control before an arm injury forced him from the game with one out in the top of the sixth inning. His first scoreless outing in three starts this season dropped his ERA to 1.69. The No. 21 Pirates prospect enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2018, finishing 10-6 with a 2.81 ERA across 28 starts spanning 154 innings with Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis. No. 5 Pirates prospect Cole Tucker tripled, doubled, scored twice and drove in a run during his second straight three-hit game. Gameday box score
Indians OF Daniel Johnson, Double-A Akron: 3-for-4, 2 2B, 4 RBIs, SB -- Following a 1-for-13 stretch that dropped his average to .194, the 23-year-old hiked his average up to .294 with his second straight multi-hit game and second three-hit effort of 2019. It was the second consecutive night the No. 22 Indians prospect drove in four runs, giving him nine in 11 games. The four RBIs fell one shy of his personal best of five set with Class A Hagerstown on April 8, 2017. The 23-year-old lofted a sacrifice fly to left in the first, doubled to left to drive in a run in the sixth and plated two more with a single to center in the ninth. Gameday box score
Astros RHP Bryan Abreu, Class A Advanced Fayetteville: 4 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K -- He didn't stick around long enough to earn the win, but the 21-year-old was dominant in his second start of 2019. Abreu recorded the third double-digit strikeout performance of his career and first since Aug. 14 with Class A Quad Cities. He fell one short of his career high of 11 set last July 28, also with Quad Cities. The eighth-ranked Astros prospect has a 2.79 ERA through two starts and 17 strikeouts over 9 2/3 innings. The right-hander averaged 14.9 whiffs per nine across two Minor League levels last season. Gameday box score
Mets RHP Simeon Woods Richardson, Class A Columbia: 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K -- Big things were expected from the 18-year-old after a strong professional debut in 2018. Through his first three starts, Woods Richardson has not disappointed. Held to a strict pitch limit, the No. 7 Mets prospect extended his scoreless streak to six innings with a near flawless performance on Monday. Since allowing two runs over 1 2/3 innings in his Fireflies debut, Woods Richardson has yielded three hits, no walks and has struck out seven in six scoreless frames in his last two starts. The Sugar Land, Texas, native has thrown 71 of 84 pitches for strikes in his last two outings. Gameday box score

A's RHP Brian Howard, Double-A Midland: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K -- Since allowing a run in the third inning of his season debut on April 5, it's been nothing but zeros for the 23-year-old. Howard extended his shutout streak to 13 innings after blanking Amarillo through six frames on 98 pitches Monday night. The 21st-ranked A's prospect improved to 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA in three starts for the RockHounds. He went 11-7 with a 2.91 ERA and struck out 140 over 139 1/3 innings with Class A Advanced Stockton and Midland in 2018. Gameday box score
Tigers RHP Logan Shore, Double-A Erie: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K -- The 24-year-old rebounded from a shaky season debut on April 8 with six scoreless frames en route to his first win as a Tiger. Shore was traded to Detroit from Oakland on Sept. 18 as the player to be named in the Mike Fiers deal after going 3-6 with a 4.17 ERA in 17 starts across two levels in 2018. The No. 16 Tigers prospect yielded four runs in five innings against Altoona in his Eastern League debut but worked with a 5-0 lead after two frames on Monday. Gameday box score
A's OF Jameson Hannah, Class A Advanced Stockton: 4-for-5, 2 R -- A mini-slump to begin 2019 appears to be a thing of the past for the 21-year-old. Although Hannah went hitless on Sunday, he's collected seven hits over his last three games to raise his batting average 129 points to .289. The No. 7 A's prospect singled to right in the first, singled to right and scored in the third and reached on an infield single to second in the fourth. Hannah notched his career-high fourth hit with a single to center in the seventh and scored on No. 5 A's prospect Austin Beck's double. Gameday box score

Michael Avallone is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @MavalloneMiLB.