NEW YORK -- Manager Fredi Gonzalez joked Saturday that the only reason top propsect Mike Stanton hadn't been called up to the big leagues yet was because he fell a double shy of hitting for the cycle Friday night for Double A Jacksonville.
"That's the missing piece we were waiting for," Gonzalez said.
Stanton got his double Saturday and drew two walks in a 1-for-3 effort against the Montgomery Biscuits. Sunday, though, he was conspicuously out of the Suns lineup, raising speculation he could be on his way up to the big leagues very soon.
According to a radio broadcaster in Montgomery who spoke to our Clark Spencer moments ago, Stanton was in uniform in the Suns dugout.
While no call-up date has been set, speculation is it will happen this week, perhaps when the Marlins open a three-game series in Philadelphia Tuesday. But indications are it is more likely to happen later in the week in Tampa when Stanton could be eased in as a designated hitter.
Gonzalez said Saturday that whenever Stanton is called-up, he wants to make sure the 20-year old doesn't feel like he has to save the season.
"That's going to be one of my biggest jobs -- to not make him sound like he's going to be Roy Hobbs," Gonzalez said of the Stanton, who through Saturday was hitting .311 with 21 homers, 52 RBI for the Suns.
"We're going to let him go out and have fun. Is he's going to make us better? Let's see what happens. But it's really not good expectations to put on a young man. ‘Hey, you're the guy, take us to the playoffs.' No. No. We have established guys who could take care of [that]."
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