High-five for Springfield's Sierra

Double-A Springfield manager Johnny Rodriguez has been around baseball for a long time, so when he talks about Magneuris Sierra in the same breath as Rickey Henderson, it's wise to listen.
Not that Rodriguez is comparing the Cardinals' eighth-ranked prospect to a Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time, but he sees an important similarity between the two players.

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"Confidence," Rodriguez said. "The confidence Magneuris has just completely energizes the team. It's something similar to what Rickey Henderson did with the clubs he played with. He plays with an urgency and an intensity that rubs off on the other guys. He's a very quiet guy and not very vocal, but he leads by example and plays the game right. His teammates follow that and feed off of that."
Sierra reached base five times on Tuesday night, going 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI, to lead Springfield past Northwest Arkansas, 4-2, at Arvest Ballpark.

The 21-year-old collected at least four hits for the ninth time in his career in his first game back after a second stint in the Majors. He singled three times and notched his third double to push his average to .333 in 11 Texas League games.
"He's not trying to do too much, and it shows. He's putting the barrel on the ball and has all the confidence right now," Rodriguez said. "He's not trying to take a big swing or do more than he needs to. He's staying with his strength, putting the ball in play and getting hits his way."
Sierra, who has hit safely in nine of 11 games with Springfield, reached on infield singles in his first two plate appearances. The speedy outfielder walked in the fifth and doubled to right in the seventh. With the Cardinals leading in the ninth, 3-2, he singled home Oscar Mercado with an insurance run. It was his second four-hit game of the season and first since May 1 with Class A Advanced Palm Beach.
"A few infield singles, a hit to left, a hit to right. ... I watch him in batting practice and that's exactly what he does. He tries to go to left and to right," Rodriguez said. "He's just so confident right now. I had him three years ago with [Rookie-level] Johnson City in the playoffs. But I really hadn't seen him since until this past Spring Training in big league camp. He played well then, too, and I could just tell his confidence was sky-high. He understands things much better now and is seeing the ability he has." 
Sierra was hitting .272/.337/.407 with 15 stolen bases in 20 games in the Florida State League when he was promoted to the big leagues on May 7. He was optioned to Double-A on May 19 and recalled again on June 2 before rejoining Springfield on Sunday. Sierra acquitted himself well with St. Louis, batting .375 with three RBIs and eight runs scored in eight games.
"He's learning how to utilize his speed -- on the bases, at the plate and in the outfield," Rodriguez said. "He's got a special knack to get a hit or make a play in the field when it's needed. He always seems to be in the middle of a big play or in there during a big point in the game, whether it's on offense or defense. He never takes a play off.
"When I had him back in 2014, he didn't know how good he was. Now he believes that he has the talent to play in the bigs and he's shown it. He's grown so much and playing with great conviction."

Mercado doubled, tripled and scored twice, while Dickie Joe Thon, Gabriel Lino and Casey Turgeon had two hits apiece for Springfield. 
Making his Double-A debut, Cardinals No. 24 prospect Zac Gallen (1-0) allowed one run on four hits and three walks while striking out four over 5 2/3 innings. Pedro Echemendia worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save.
Donald Dewees Jr., the Royals' No. 11 prospect, homered and drove in two runs for Northwest Arkansas.