Cardinals announce Minor League Player & Pitcher of the month for July
GCL Cards' Magneuris Sierra & Memphis' Tim Cooney honored
ST. LOUIS, Mo., August 3, 2014 - The St. Louis Cardinals announced today their Minor League Player and Pitcher honorees for the month of July with outfielder Magneuris Sierra (Gulf Coast League Cardinals-Rookie) and lefty pitcher Tim Cooney (Memphis-AAA) being saluted for their accomplishments.
Magneuris, 18, batted a robust .439 (36-for-82) with a .489 on-base pct. and nine stolen bases while helping the Cardinals Gulf Coast League affiliate get out to a league-best 24-13 mark. The left-handed hitting native of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic is currently leading the GCL in batting (.390), hits (46) and OPS (.985).
The 5-11, 160-pound Magneuris was signed by the Cardinals as a non-drafted free-agent on July 13, 2012 and he appeared in 63 games with the Dominican Summer League Cardinals in 2013.
Cooney, 23, was 3-0 with a 1.95 ERA in four starts for the Memphis Redbirds in July, striking out 24 batters in 27.2 IP while allowing just five walks and a .238 opponent's BA.
The Cardinals 3rd round (117th player overall) draft selection in 2012 out of Wake Forest University, Cooney has anchored a Memphis pitching rotation that currently ranks 3rd in the Pacific Coast League in team ERA (4.00). The 6-3, 195-pound port-sider is currently tied for the PCL lead in wins (10), is 3rd in innings pitched (128.0) and ranks 8th in ERA (3.73). Cooney's solid month has coincided with a Memphis resurgence that has seen the Redbirds climb from eight games under .500 (38-46) on July 2 to their current mark of 58-55.