SEATTLE -- Already without their runner-up for AL MVP, the Mariners saw their lineup take two more notable hits before Saturday’s 7-4 loss to the Padres, as catcher Mitch Garver and third baseman Brendan Donovan were each scratched two hours before first pitch.
Garver, who was nursing back tightness from a play on Thursday in Houston, was replaced by Jhonny Pereda. Donovan, who was pulled in a load-management decision related to his recent IL stint, was replaced by Leo Rivas.
Both are day to day.
“BD, again, as we've said, we have to be flexible and give him a day here or there when he needs it,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “And so that was just today. And Garv had a little tightness in his back, and so we were able to kind of give him the day as well.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get one or both back tomorrow.”
Garver’s back first tightened up on him when landing awkwardly on his right knee while attempting to corral a popout in foul territory late during Thursday’s win in Houston. But he also downplayed it at the time and remained in the game for two more innings, after a conferral with Mariners assistant athletic trainer Taylor Bennett.
At first, it looked like it was Garver’s right knee that was the issue, but he revealed postgame that the way he awkwardly landed on it actually caused more discomfort in his back.
“It wasn't my most graceful fall,” Garver joked at the time. “I just jammed up my back. It was nothing with my knee or anything. I just jammed up my back a little. It should be fine.”
Garver was also out of the starting lineup for Friday’s series opener against San Diego, but he wasn’t scratched. Pereda has now started each of the past two games, having been recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday as Cal Raleigh’s replacement after the star catcher was placed on the 10-day IL with a right oblique strain.
Donovan, meanwhile, was just activated from the 10-day IL last Friday after missing 17 games with a left groin muscle strain. He also dealt with hip soreness and right groin discomfort in April well before going on the IL, all of which he’s suggested have potentially been correlated to the sports hernia surgery he underwent in October.
“I’m still learning a lot about recovery and things I can do to keep my hips healthy after my surgery,” Donovan said last weekend.
“I think workload is one of those things, and pelvic positioning is another thing. That’s something that we have to attack in the weight room and in the training room every day.”
Donovan had two by-design off-days over his first six days back, but he came off the bench in that second game in question to take Raleigh’s spot in the batting order, when the catcher aggravated his oblique and was forced to exit in the ninth inning.
Donovan is 6-for-28 (.218) since returning, with half of those hits coming in Thursday’s win, when he finished a homer shy of the cycle.