Sanoja proving to be more than a utility player in 2026

MIAMI – A photo of assistant hitting coach Chris Hess holding onto Javier Sanoja’s head is taped onto the utility player’s locker inside the Marlins’ clubhouse at loanDepot park.

Except these days, Sanoja’s production and playing time exceeds that of a utility player – a role that often comes with a certain downplayed connotation.

The secret to Sanoja’s success lies in that photo. According to hitting coach Pedro Guerrero, Hess is holding Sanoja’s head up to keep his posture there and to focus on not pulling off on a swing.

“[A reason Sanoja is] impacting the baseball a little bit harder or consistently is the fact that his posture is a little bit better,” Guerrero said. “He's not so upright. You see at the end he kind of goes like this [makes motion] right before the pitcher delivers the ball. So that's the one thing that they've been working on.”

It has become ingrained in Sanoja’s muscle memory thanks to a daily competition held inside the cages between Hess and Sanoja.

Hess will use Incrediballs, which are lightweight, cushioned training baseballs, to switch up grips – from sliders to fastballs. Sanoja doesn’t know what pitch is coming, so he must stick with a disciplined approach.

“They have a little competition every day, see who wins, and if he chases or doesn't hit it right, Chris gets a point,” Guerrero said. “If he does hit it right, and it's a good decision, or he takes the ball, he gets a point. So they kind of have fun with it every day.”

So often when a player sees more playing time, he can be exposed. The opposite is happening here. The free-swinging Sanoja has shown more restraint at the plate as a result, and it is paying off.

Since Aug. 1, Sanoja is batting .349/.387/.543 with eight doubles, one triple, five homers and 22 RBIs. He has eight walks and 11 strikeouts. Among Major Leaguers with at least 130 plate appearances during this 35-game stretch, Sanoja’s 1.5 fWAR is tied for 14th most with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Wilyer Abreu. That is 0.1 away from Bryce Harper, Elly De La Cruz, Pete Alonso, Cal Raleigh, Alejandro Kirk and Jackson Chourio.

Before this span, Sanoja was hitting .265/.304/.390 with 21 doubles, two triples, three homers and 35 RBIs in 93 games. He had 23 strikeouts to 16 walks.

Credit goes to the drill work for better swing decisions. From Aug. 1 entering Wednesday's game, Sanoja had a 68.4% zone-swing rate and a 36.4% chase rate. Through July 31, he had a 64.9% zone-swing rate and a 39.9% chase rate.

“I would say my discipline is helping me the most,” Sanoja said via interpreter Luis Dorante. “Obviously, in Minor League Baseball, I was playing every day, but here is a different game, right? You have to be more prepared, be more specific of where you're going, what you're going to do every day. But it will be this discipline.

“It just puts me to a different level every day, and then I just want to do more so they can continue putting me in the lineup.”

This mindset is also helping Sanoja slug more despite his 5-foot-7 stature. He already has set a career high for homers (eight) in a season. His .770 season OPS ranks fifth among current Marlins with at least 100 at-bats.

“He certainly is impacting the ball at a better rate this year,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “And he's still young. He just turned 24 years old, so it's just a really good player. A guy that can go play really anywhere on the field and play it at a high level, and offensively you know the ball is going to get moved forward, and he seems now as he's gotten out there he's earned the right to play every day because that's just how he's performed. I couldn't pull for Javi any harder because he's always ready and he's a gamer.”

While plenty of talk this season has concerned the future at the corner-infield positions, Sanoja is making a case that perhaps he is the answer at the hot corner.

Sanoja entered Wednesday tied for second in the Majors with five outs above average at third base, where he became the regular over the summer while Graham Pauley and Leo Jiménez saw a start here or there.

With Xavier Edwards sidelined, Sanoja has bounced back and forth between second and third depending on the lineup for opposing pitcher handedness. Overall, though, the 2025 Gold Glove-winning utility player hasn’t moved around the field as much this season compared to last year: third base (105 games), second base (16), right field (14), left field (10), shortstop (10), pitcher (five) and center field (three).

“I leave everything just up to God and then in this case to whatever the organization wants from me, and again, what God wants for me,” Sanoja said. “All I do is just stay ready, and I always try to be prepared, ready for anything, whatever they want me to be.”