Giancarlo Stanton, OF

[Mainge]

Because others want him to stay?

It's not hard.

[lou]

122 will be a really small Super2 deadline if that turns out to be true.

[Bobbob1313]

It seems like more and more teams are paying attention to this stuff. That could be the cause.

[emkayseven]

the ones who don't write and distribute the checks

[MiamiHomer]

MIAMI -- Mike Stanton, as one might expect, isn't a fan of bus rides.

"I don't like them at all," he said Wednesday after he got off his most recent one, a six-hour trek from Zebulon, N.C., to Sevierville, Tenn., where the Marlins' heralded prospect continued his 2010 surge through Double-A baseball.

Stanton's Minor League success thus far is an uncomfortable one. Not because his hype and current gaudy numbers give him fewer good pitches to hit on a nightly basis, or because those same factors have him conducting about as many interviews as quality at-bats per day. He handles all of that in stride.

It's simply because buses are hard to relax on when you're listed at 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds.

"They're uncomfortable," said Stanton, the No. 3-rated prospect by MLB.com. "I don't really fit in the seats, because I'm so big. I usually just lay down on the floor to stretch my legs out a little bit."

Fear not, Mike. Your bus trips may be coming to an end soon.

The power-hitting right fielder torched Double-A pitching early in the season -- the same one that gave him problems after a midseason promotion last year -- and even though he's come back down to earth a bit lately, his numbers are still spectacular: a Double-A-leading 17 homers, 43 RBIs, a .318 batting average and a 1.185 OPS.

As for when those numbers will finally lead to a Major League callup?

"That's something that needs to be in the farthest part of my mind," Stanton said. "Because if that's all I'm thinking about, then I'm going to not take care of what's going on now, and I'm going to slip in the guys in the front office's minds, too."

But Stanton is only 20 years old. He's never been in the big leagues. His dream is to be in the big leagues. And for several weeks now, reports nationwide have speculated about how the right-handed-hitting slugger is right on the cusp of reaching the big leagues.

Blocking that out in the midst of cramped bus rides and games in strange cities can't be easy.

"Yeah, it can't be easy," Stanton confessed. "But you have to, really. If that's the only thing you're thinking about, you can't focus on what's going on now. If I'm going to get there, I'm going to get there. And then I'm going to focus on staying there when I get there. So now, I'll focus on making them bring me up."

That, along with the physical tools that are off the charts, is why the Marlins hold Stanton in such high regard.

It's why Florida has refused to use him as a trade chip, even when it meant possibly acquiring Manny Ramirez at the 2008 Trade Deadline. The club is confident the learning curve won't be steep. And why when June rolls around -- and the team can delay Stanton's arbitration and free agency -- the Marlins likely won't hesitate to bring him up if there's a need.

There's no callup date set -- at least not publicly -- for the man many say is the best hitting prospect in the Marlins' system since Miguel Cabrera, but a promotion at some point next month is expected. And when that happens, the team will have a tough decision to make about the current outfield, which consists of the under-performing Chris Coghlan and Cameron Maybin and veteran Cody Ross.

"He's getting pretty close," Marlins vice president of player development and scouting Jim Fleming said about Stanton. "We'll let it play out. That's not for me to answer. Physically, is he ready? Yeah. Mentally? He's pretty close. When it fits for the Major League club, fits for [general manager] Mike [Hill]. We don't put any dates or plans. It'll be decided. [President of baseball operations] Larry [Beinfest] and Mike will decide when they want to do it."

Stanton, Florida's second-round Draft choice in 2007, has come a long way since hitting just .231 in 79 Double-A games last year.

"His at-bats are better," Fleming said about a player whose slugging percentage at Double-A has jumped from .455 to .732. "Identifying pitches, laying off close pitches and working counts -- just his at-bats are much better. That was the goal. That was the major goal out of Spring Training."

Though Stanton impressed in Spring Training -- when he batted .286 with three homers in eight Grapefruit League games -- he said he wasn't surprised or upset by his expected late-March demotion.

As Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said at the time, "He'll let us know when he's ready."

Stanton, who got the nickname "Big Worm" from legendary NFL coach Bill Parcells that spring, got right to work on that.

Stanton hit .338 with 10 homers and 23 RBIs in his first month this season, which included a two-game stretch in which he hit five homers and drove in 11 runs.

Then, his legend grew with a monstrous home run.

It happened on May 6 in Montgomery, Ala., where Stanton blasted a ball to left-center field that cleared a fence measuring 395 feet away from home plate, a 90-foot-high scoreboard that rose above it and a giant "B" that sits on top of that.

Many agree it traveled at least 500 feet, and some even say it landed 575 feet away, which would be flat-out mythical.

"It was in Alabama, but it ended up in Tennessee," said Marlins reliever Dan Meyer, who was there on a rehab assignment.

"The guy could swing it. He's going to be good. And he's still young, so it's amazing. But the home run he hit was nothing short of amazing, I thought."

Suns skipper Tim Leiper also had Stanton in Class A Jupiter last year, but he believes he hasn't done much managing with Stanton.

"I learn a lot just from watching him do stuff, as opposed to me teaching him stuff," said Leiper, whose club will hand out replica Stanton jerseys to Suns fans on Saturday.

"The time between 2 and 6 [before the game] is so well spent, not only on his offense, but on his defense. And the fact that he's mentally prepared for every game, that's something you don't see with a lot of players of his age and experience."

Perspective is another one of Stanton's strong suits.

So when he got off that bus in Sevierville, Tenn., on Wednesday and stretched his long legs out, Stanton's focus immediately shifted to that night's game against the Tennessee Smokies -- not that call from the Marlins' front office that seems more possible as the summer days go by.

"Obviously, he'd like to get up as soon as possible, but he does a very good job of making sure every day is great," Leiper said.

"His goal is to be the best player, and to me, that'll probably be his mission until the day he quits playing."

Stanton enjoying ride en route to Marlins

[Swifty]

"That's something that needs to be in the farthest part of my mind," Stanton said. "Because if that's all I'm thinking about, then I'm going to not take care of what's going on now, and I'm going to slip in the guys in the front office's minds, too."

[MiamiHomer]

Michael Stanton has played left field three of the last four games at Double-A Jacksonville. He had been the regular right fielder up to his point. Not sure how much to read into this.

On the one hand, it could be the Marlins are priming him to be the every day left fielder in the very near future. If the Marlins were indeed set on giving Stanton a shot at the majors, why not just leave him in his normal position and switch Cody Ross to left? Could be the Marlins just feel Ross has more range at this point, particularly in the expansive right field at Sun Life Stadium.

Or, as Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus suggests, perhaps the Marlins are preparing Stanton for a promotion to Triple-A. Remember in 2003, the Marlins moved Miguel Cabrera from third to left just before they called him up to the majors.

With fellow super prospect Jayson Heyward in town with the Braves, the subject of when Stanton might arrive was all the buzz at the ballpark. Here’s a sampling of what our Harvey Fialkov filed for Wednesday’s editions…

A radio reporter mistakenly asked Cody Ross about the increasing hype surrounding Jason Heyward, the outstanding Braves rookie, when he meant to say Mike Stanton, the Marlins power-hitting prospect at Double-A Jacksonville.

“Wrong phenom,’’ Ross said of Stanton, who leads all of Double-A with 17 home runs and 44 RBI while batting .318. “He handles pressure so well. He’s got a strong mental side to go with the physical ability to perform.

“I look forward to seeing him.’’

Heyward, who like Stanton is 20, was Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year last year. He leads all NL rookies in seven batting categories, including homers, RBI, runs scored, total bases, walks, on-base percentage and extra-base hits.

“There was a lot of hype around our team, a lot of hype around a rookie making his debut on Opening Day, ‘’ Heyward said when asked about raising expectations after hitting a homer in his first big league at-bat on Sept. 5 to become the youngest player to do so since 1950.

“For me I was playing baseball. Nothing else matters. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 20 or 40, it’s baseball. There’s no pressure. It’s a team game and not about one person. Just go out, have fun every day, work hard and control what you can control.’’

Heyward played against Stanton in a series in Class-A ball and last year in Double-A.

“He always seems to improve every time I played against the guy,’’ said Heyward, who was batting .290 with nine homers and 33 RBI before sitting out Sunday’s game with a sore thumb.

The Marlins could call Stanton up, but it wouldn’t be before June 5 because they would save money related to his service time in the majors.

“He’s the big elephant in the room,’’ said Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez. “The more experience [with media attention] the better you’re going to be. … He’s the type of guy who can handle that but you got to be careful whether you’re a young kid or a 10-year veteran you’ll go through ups and downs. We got to make sure he’s comfortable with that.’’

Florida Marlins: New position for prospect Michael Stanton

[Swifty]

If we call Mike up to play left, I'll be very disappointed. Left field in Sun Life is the hardest LF in the bigs. No need to subject a 20 year old to that.

[Ramp]

yet we subject a second baseman to it everyday

[HUGG]

And subject a DH to 2B (and another one to 3B). This is what we do.

My point here is Stanton will end up catching.

[Ralph]

twice in one week. Cono

[Swifty]

I'm hoping he's the bullpen catcher.

[Party]

Jeffrey Urgelles won't be replaced, Swifty. He still has 3 more years of club control.

[kylekash]

Jeffrey Urgelles won't be replaced, Swifty. He still has 3 more years of club control.

Plus he did a phenominal job of throwing a ball into the field last night, which rolled out to right field. The umps didn't even notice it for 2-3 pitches... Heyward was not paying attention to anyone either as the entire Marlin bullpen was trying to tell him about the ball.

[Miamarlin21]

If we call Mike up to play left, I'll be very disappointed. Left field in Sun Life is the hardest LF in the bigs. No need to subject a 20 year old to that.

Miguel did it.