Buffalo Roster Moves

The Buffalo Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, today announced that OF Frank Diaz has been promoted to the team from Binghamton (AA).

Buffalo also announced that OF Bobby Kielty has been placed on the team’s disabled list.

Yesterday, Bisons RHP Nelson Figueroa had his contract selected by the New York Mets. He’s expected to start for the Mets today.

Diaz, 25, has yet to appear in a game this season. He hit .291 (34-117) with 11RBI and 4 stolen bases in 38 games with Columbus (AAA) last season. He also played 43 games with Potomac (A) last year and hit .256 (42-164) with two homeruns and 18RBI. Diaz was signed as a free agent by the Mets on January 28, 2009.

Kielty played in eight games with Buffalo this year and hit .231 (6-26) with one homerun, three RBI and one stolen base.

Figueroa was 0-0 with a 3.00ERA in two starts for Buffalo (9.0IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 6K).

TODAY’S GAME: Today, the Buffalo Bisons take on Syracuse Chiefs in the third game of a four-game series from Alliance Bank Stadium (2:00 p.m.). The Bisons need to win the next two to earn a series split after a pair of wins by the Chiefs, 3-1, 6-3. The Herd is also looking to end a six-game losing streak that began in Monday in Buffalo. After this four-game series, the Bisons will play two in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before returning home on Friday, April 24.

K MEN: Bisons pitchers have found the strikeout pitch so far this series. LHP Casey Fossum fanned a Bisons season-high nine on Friday night. RHP Brandon Knight fell one K shy when he punched out eight batters on Saturday. Knight leads the Bisons’ staff with 15 strikeouts while the whole group tops the International League with 92 strikeouts over the first 10 games.

COOP BACK IN THE LOOP: Activated yesterday, OF Jason Cooper added to a couple of his Bisons’ Modern Era statistics. It was Coops’ 411th game with the Bisons, extending the record he broke with the club last year. His double in the 9th inning was his 82nd with Buffalo. He is now just 8 doubles behind Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Selby in that category.

F-MART: OF Fernando Martinez saw his most recent hit streak end at five games yesterday. F-Mart was held to 0-4 after hitting .348 (8-23) with four doubles and a home run in his five previous games. Martinez’s six doubles and eight-extra base hits (6 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homerun) still top all players in the International League.

AT THE TOP: OF Jesus Feliciano collected is 3 for 8 (.375) in the first two games of this series against the Chiefs. In five games since being moved to the lead-off spot, Feliciano has hit .364 (8-22) with a double, 2RBI and two runs scored. On the season, Feliciano’s .306 batting average leads the Bisons. Last year, he topped New Orleans’ (AAA) team with a .308 batting average.

ON THE CHARTS: LHP Casey Fossum has posted a 0.82ERA over his first two starts. His ERA is T5th lowest in the International League. With his eight strikeouts yesterday, RHP Brandon Knight (15) is now ranked T4th in the IL.