Javier Sanoja has spent the last month hitting like the kind of player a team builds around, and the numbers back it up. The 24-year-old Marlins utility man has quietly become one of the hottest bats in baseball, and Miami took a moment to spotlight that surge ahead of the second game of its series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Marlins revealed on Instagram that Sanoja has the best batting average in Major League Baseball since Aug. 1. Over the last 30 days, he ranks second in the league with a .366 average, trailing only Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds.
That kind of run fits the season Sanoja has put together overall. Since his MLB debut in 2024, Miami has known there was real hitting ability there, and this year he’s backed it up with career highs across the board: nine home runs, 63 RBIs and an OPS above .780.
He’s part of a young Marlins group that has given the organization plenty to point toward, even if this isn’t a playoff season. Otto Lopez has posted the best batting average of his career, Heriberto Hernandez has emerged as a power threat and Kyle Stowers is starting to look more like himself. The source of the story is clear: the future in Miami looks a lot brighter than the current standings.
Sanoja’s value goes beyond the bat, too. Manager Clayton McCullough praised the way the young player has performed and the flexibility he brings to the lineup and the field.
“He certainly is impacting the ball at a better rate this year,” 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.”
If Sanoja keeps building on the power he’s shown since his rookie season, the Marlins may have something even bigger on their hands. The idea is simple: if he can settle into the 12-15 home run range while staying near a .300 batting average, Miami could end up with one of the more dangerous young lineups in the National League.
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Marlins Just Got The Answer They Desperately Needed In Arizona
After the Diamondbacks opened the series with a walk-off, the Marlins answered the next night the way a team trying to steady itself often has to: with a gritty, extra-innings win that leaned on speed, defense and a bullpen that held up over eight innings. Esteury Ruiz supplied the big swing with a three-run double in Miamis 4-2 victory, a result that gave the club a much-needed lift after letting the first game slip away in dramatic fashion.
The split has now set up a decisive finale in Arizona, with Ryan Gusto and Merrill Kelly lined up for the rubber game. For a Marlins club that has spent so much of this trip looking for cleaner endings, the bigger question is whether the momentum from Wednesday night can carry over when the series ends with the most important start of the set. [Read more 🡒]