Classic hero Sanoja wants to bring winning ways to Marlins

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.

JUPITER, Fla. – Marlins Gold Glove-winning utility player Javier Sanoja returned to big league camp in style on Friday afternoon, sporting his Venezuela jersey, World Baseball Classic championship cap and gold medal.

This week has been a whirlwind for Sanoja, who stole a base and scored the winning run as a pinch-runner in Venezuela’s 3-2 upset over the United States in Tuesday night’s World Baseball Classic final at loanDepot park.

“I'm saving a lot of stuff that I have been taking from these moments,” Sanoja said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “The jersey, I'm not going to wash it. Just going to make sure that my son can see all these little things, make history, and I'll save it for him so he can see it.”

Sanoja received a hero’s welcome back to the clubhouse, where Venezuelan flags flanked his locker. Teammates Sandy Alcantara and Jakob Marsee, who competed for the Dominican Republic and Italy, respectively, asked to hold or try on the medal.

Following Sanoja’s Instagram account this week has been a fun ride – from celebratory footage near his mural in his hometown of Maracay to the aftermath of partying in Miami. If Sanoja wasn’t already, he’ll be a household name back home.

As things calmed down at the ballpark around 3 a.m., Sanoja called his mother, Yelitza, in Venezuela. After all, she played a pivotal role in helping her son fall in love with the game as a child. Turns out mom was busy celebrating. When Sanoja finally made it back to the team hotel, he tried again, and Yelitza was still celebrating.

“They were all packed watching the game, but when we won, it just was mayhem,” Sanoja said. “It's been incredible for me for the last 48 hours. When you have a national feeling of everybody just enjoying this, it really fills my heart.”

Now it’s back to work for Sanoja.

Sanoja kept his Venezuela jersey on while wearing his Marlins home pants and Spring Training cap for batting practice ahead of his return to Grapefruit League action on Friday night. He spent time chatting around the turtle with Christopher Morel and hitting coach Pedro Guerrero.

“I was incredibly excited for him to be a part of something historic for Team Venezuela and that country,” said manager Clayton McCullough, who threw BP to Sanoja. “He brought the energy and all the things that we knew he had, and then on cue, not getting a whole lot of regular opportunity, but in a moment where it was really needed to change a game, Javy was ready for that moment.

“I'm sure [manager] Omar [López] recognized that Javy is just someone who's always ready, and [he] had enough confidence to put him into that spot, steal a big base, score the go-ahead run. That just kind of sums up Javy, that he's an incredible team player. And then when there's a moment that he's called upon, he's ready to go make his mark.”

After capturing the championship, Sanoja wants to experience that feeling again with the Marlins. Like Venezuela in the Classic, Miami will be an underdog this season.

“I want to bring this to the clubhouse, to all my teammates,” Sanoja said. “I feel that we have a commitment to the city, and then last year, we showed that we can do it. I want to make a playoff with this group of guys, and just share that joy with all of them.”