SEATTLE -- Brendan Donovan was out of the Mariners’ lineup for the second straight game on Saturday against the Astros, but he did return as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of their 8-7 walk-off win later that night.
Still slogging through an illness that first surfaced during Seattle’s most recent road trip at Texas, Donovan recovered enough by Saturday afternoon to go through a few drills with infield coach Perry Hill during early work.
Before that, he was shagging fly balls and playing catch in the outfield -- while noticeably keeping a distance from others.
It was clear that he was still grinding through it, but he was able to come off the bench and draw a critical four-pitch walk before J.P. Crawford’s bases-loaded game-winner.
“It just adds to the lore, I think, of Brendan Donovan,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “He's a gamer. I don't know what else you can say. And just getting a chance to get up there, get his feet in the box. And again, he didn't see any strikes, he didn't swing at any bad pitches, put together a really good at-bat and just extended that inning and turned it over.”
In Donovan’s stead, Leo Rivas started at third base and was batting ninth for the second straight game, while Crawford moved to Donovan’s spot in the lineup at leadoff, also on consecutive nights.
That alignment worked on Friday, as the Mariners were able to withstand Donovan’s absence when running away to a 9-6 win that snapped a five-game losing streak. But they will still be eager to return the bat that’s been most productive through the first two-plus weeks of the season.
Donovan leads the Mariners in each slash line category, with a clip of .316/.422/.605 (1.027 OPS) over 45 plate appearances across 11 games with his new club. Those numbers are way above the overall team rate of .190/.297/.311 (.608 OPS) that it entered Saturday with.
Saturday’s pregame work with Hill particularly stood out, given that Donovan was explicit on wanting to do so after the Mariners were swept by the Rangers -- a series in which Donovan experienced a few hiccups in the field.
After transitioning more full-time to third base after Seattle acquired him from St. Louis in a three-team trade on Feb. 2, Donovan has been on the hook for four errors. But more broadly, he’s had moments where the move hasn’t looked as seamless.
“It’s not something you can run from,” Donovan told reporters in Arlington. “You’ve just got to keep preparing and understand I’m not playing to the standard that I set for myself, defensively and what I have done the last few years. That’s frustrating. My biggest thing is I just want to help the team win, and I don’t feel like I’m doing a very good job of that over there, so I’ll continue to prepare.”