This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MIAMI -- Marlins rookie Javier Sanoja has played in 95 big league games since 2024, but Monday’s series opener against the Astros at loanDepot park felt like his true arrival to The Show.
When Sanoja lined Houston lefty Brad King’s four-seamer over the left-center wall for a pinch-hit solo homer in the seventh, he did so in front of childhood idol Jose Altuve.
“Thank goodness,” Sanoja said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “Today, I really feel like I have accomplished that dream. He's in that lineup, I'm in this lineup, so just being able to be in the same field. Yes, I hit the home run. I wasn't able to talk to him [pregame], because he was doing his own routine. Probably, I'll talk to him tomorrow, but he gave me like an evil eye. Like I was on second base, he gave me a little evil eye. I saw him back, and we were just smiling with each other.”
At 5-foot-7, 150 pounds, Sanoja has been underestimated for his small stature, just like Altuve (5-foot-6, 167 pounds). The 15-year-veteran Altuve, whose resume includes everything from the 2017 American League MVP to seven AL Silver Slugger Awards, is an easy person for young Venezuelan ballplayers to admire.
The pair connected via social media and later met at a Grapefruit League game during 2024 Spring Training, when Sanoja was still a prospect. Altuve wanted to keep an eye on the youngster and wish him the best.
“I’m getting a little older and the young guys are coming up and I have a few guys saying they watched me play growing up,” Altuve said. “They made me feel proud, but [it] gives me a lot of commitment to be a good example for them and basically help them to stay in the big leagues.”
To this day, Sanoja and Altuve keep in contact. They caught up in person hours before Altuve blasted a two-run homer in the first, then sharply lined out to Sanoja in the fifth on Tuesday. Altuve returned the favor by robbing Sanoja of a hit on Wednesday.
Sanoja serves in the Marlins’ super-utility role, having appeared at every position except catcher and right field this season. He often comes off the bench, something that isn’t easy for an inexperienced ballplayer.
Naturally, Sanoja has gone through growing pains. From May through July, he batted .215/.261/.340 in 160 plate appearances.
“I saw him in Spring Training,” Sanoja said. “We got to talk a little bit. But during the season, I was able to exchange some messages with him. I was going through a rough patch at some point in the season, and then he gave me some words of confidence that truly, truly helped me a lot to turn the page. Altuve is a great player. He's a guy that we see as a mirror that we want to reflect, and again, it was unbelievable, and it helped me a lot.”
Added Altuve: “Whenever he reached out to me, and if he needs some help or whatever, I ask him, you know, ‘What’s the problem?’ What does he feel? And then based on that, I give my answer based on what has worked for me, and it’s basically just try to get your pitch and go gap to gap instead of just trying to put the ball in play.”
The 22-year-old Sanoja has packed quite the punch this homestand. After going deep just once in his first 253 career plate appearances, he recorded his first multi-homer game in Friday’s comeback win over the Yankees. Including Monday’s solo shot, Sanoja went a stretch of three homers in six at-bats.
Sanoja credits his recent power surge to sticking with his routine, in particular his time in the weight room, and working on strike zone recognition with the hitting coaches. His ability to make contact is a strength; now it’s finding the right pitches to do damage with.
“This guy is just a joy to be around,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “Everybody falls in love with Javi. How can you not with the smile and the energy in which he plays? And he has a flair for the dramatic.”
A lot like his idol Altuve.