Prospect Profile - Moises Sierra, OF Dunedin

Signed by the Jays out of the Dominican Republic in 2005, at the same time as their signing of fellow OF Johermyn Chavez, Sierra is proving his potential thus far in 2009. He is listed at 6'0" and 225 lbs and bats right handed.

His stats at Lansing in 2008 indicate were decent but not overwhelmingly encouraging.
2008 stats @ Lansing: .246 avg, 451 AB, 111 hits, 16 doubles, 5 triples, 9 HRs, 12 SBs, 114 SO, 26 BB, CS 11, .267 OBP, .364 SLG, .661 OPS.
However, when the fact that he was only 19 is taken into consideration, we have to include the learning curve and usual struggles that come with youth.

Thus far in 2009, his stats are much more encouraging and display just how much potential Sierra has.
2009 stats @ Dunedin: .338, 71 AB, 24 hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 2 HRs, 1 SB, 0 CS, 12 SO, 4 BB, .420 OBP, .563 SLG, .983 OPS.
Added to this his success is the fact that it is equal vs lefties (.313 avg) and righties (.345 avg) although both his homers and the majority of his extra base hits have been versus righties. The most encouraging part of his season has to be how much he's been able to cut down on strike outs. While he struck out once every 3.9 ABs in 2008, this year he is striking out every 5.9 ABs while playing against a higher level of competition.

A very recent BA article listed Sierra as their Helium watch player for good reason. He has outplayed all other highly ranked hitting prospects in the Jays A class organizations and has done so at a young age. His arm is great, his hitting is coming around, and it seems the Jays may have more OF organizational depth than I originally believed at the beginning of the season. Of course, it is still very early in the season and things can change quickly, but seeing Sierra perform at this level is encouraging and he deserves to be followed closely as the season wears on. Hopefully he can develop the power his size would indicate he is capable of. Although BA was able to identify Sierra in their helium watch prospects list, they did not have him listed in their top 30 prospect rankings for the Jays, a clear sign of just how much Sierra's performance has surprised the majority of knowledgeable Baseball observers.