Suns' Stanton hits 500-foot homer

Stanton, amid weeks of speculation surrounding a potential promotion from Double-A, hit a home run that reportedly traveled an estimated 500 feet on Thursday night, clearing the top of the scoreboard in Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium.

The 20-year-old Stanton, batting with a man on in the sixth inning, hit a 1-1 offering from Biscuits reliever Dane De La Rosa over the scoreboard in center, which sits over 400 feet away from home plate in Montgomery. The two-run shot put Jacksonville up, 8-3.

Stanton, MLB.com's No. 3 top prospect, leads all of professional baseball in home runs with 14, two more than Major League leader Paul Konerko. He has five longballs in his last eight games and is batting .343 this season as the Suns' No. 3 hitter.

MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reported May 2 that the Marlins feel "there is no urgency to promote the 20-year-old slugger right now," both for developmental and financial reasons related to his arbitration eligibility.

The right-handed-hitting Panorama, Calif. native is batting .450 against left-handers and .307 against righties this year. He hit 28 homers last season between Class A Advanced Jupiter and Jacksonville after clubbing 39 in 2008 for Class A Greensboro.