Luis Sierra (minors02)

Luis Armando Sierra Crisson
(Mellito)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 150 lb.

• Born July 23, 1987 in Barranquilla, Atlantico Colombia

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Luis Sierra peaked at AAA. His father Luis Sierra Sr. played in Colombia and later was a scout. His cousin José Mosquera played in the minors and managed the Colombian national team.

Sierra signed originally with the Cincinnati Reds. In his pro debut, with the 2004 VSL Reds, he was 5 for 30 with a double, 5 walks, 6 runs and 3 RBI. With the same club in '05, he hit .268/.384/.369 and fielded .965 at 2B, his main position. He remained with the VSL Reds in 2006 and batted .252/.411/.339 while improving his fielding percentage to .975 at 2B. He was 1 for 8 as Colombia's main shortstop in the 2006 American qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics. He was let go by Cincinnati and signed with the Chicago White Sox. He had a fine summer in 2007 for the DSL White Sox 2, producing at a .301/.395/.443 clip with 52 runs, 51 RBI and 17 doubles in 68 games, stealing 10 bases without being caught. He fielded .964 at 3B. He tied Alexi Amarista for 6th in the Dominican Summer League in runs, tied Ehire Adrianza and Jesus Brito for 9th in doubles and was 4th in RBI.

Sierra split 2008 between the Bristol Sox (3 for 23, 4 BB), Great Falls Voyagers (.329/.433/.451 in 26 G) and Kannapolis Intimidators (.174/.216/.272 in 26 G), being used as a utility infielder. In '09, he added left field and catcher to his infield roles and hit .268/.315/.423 in 38 games for the Intimidators, also going 0 for 4 with one walk for the Winston-Salem Dash. Back with Winston-Salem in 2010, he batted .293/.343/.418 with 48 runs and 41 RBI in 79 games, with 15 passed balls in 52 games and throwing out 36% of attempted base-stealers.

Luis was a utility man for the 2011 Dash (.221/.286/.343 in 63 G) and the Birmingham Barons (.262/.354/.357 in 11 G). In '12, he backed up Damaso Espino as the Barons backstop, batting .242/.321/.315. With the Colombian national team again after a six-year absence, he was 0 for 4 in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. In the semifinal 9-7 loss to Panama, he went 0 for 3 as the left fielder and #7 batter. He drove in Jolbert Cabrera with a sacrifice fly, facing Ernesto Silva in the 4th inning.

Sierra was 3 for 19 with a double and two walks for the 2013 Barons. In 2014, he played for Birmingham (.197/.215/.237 in 25 G) and the Charlotte Knights (0 for 3) to end his stint in the White Sox system. He was a player-coach for Colombia in the 2016 South American Championship; after going 0 for 1 in the round-robin, he got the start in the semifinals and went 3 for 5 with a double, run and two RBI but Colombia lost to Argentina and he sat out their win in the Bronze Medal game. He then coached for Colombia in the 2015 South American Championship (a Gold Medal), 2016 South American Championship (Bronze) and 2017 World Baseball Classic.

In 2024, he was a bullpen catcher for the Chicago White Sox.

Sources

• 2012 White Sox Media Guide
• 2013 WBC Qualifiers
• 2016 South American Championship Final Report