SEATTLE -- One day after he absorbed a baseball to his head in the batting cages, Brendan Donovan was placed on the 7-day concussion injured list ahead of the Mariners’ series finale against the Cubs on Sunday.
Seattle’s primary third baseman will be sidelined until at least next Saturday, as the move is retroactive to Friday.
Also on Sunday, Bryan Woo threw off a mound for the first time since his start last Sunday in Houston was cut short due to discomfort in his pitching shoulder, and he felt optimistic about his status.
In a corresponding transaction for Donovan, infielder Patrick Wisdom was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma and arrived at T-Mobile Park in time for Sunday’s matinee.
Details on how Donovan suffered the concussion remain unclear, other than that the incident took place about 15 minutes before first pitch. Players under concussion protocols are not permitted to speak with media, per the club’s baseball operations policy.
“From my understanding, it was a pitch that got him and it was just one of those situations that's, again like I said, it's unfortunate,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “But he will be back and hopefully as soon as possible.”
Wilson said that the contact to Donovan’s head was from a ball that was thrown -- not one coming off the bat -- though he was unsure if it was from a live pitcher or a machine.
“Unfortunately, these things happen from time to time,” Wilson said. “It got him in a good spot, and obviously, it's a difficult thing and a frustrating thing that these things happen.”
It’s a tough break for Donovan, who’s been limited to just 39 of the Mariners’ 131 games in his first season in Seattle.
Donovan had two stints on the IL for a left groin strain that he’s said was related to major offseason sports hernia surgery last October as a member of the Cardinals.
But since returning from the most recent stint on Aug. 4, he’d been a game-changer atop the lineup, slashing .283/.345/.340 (.685 OPS) over 58 plate appearances across 14 games.
Wisdom could see action at third base over the coming days, as could utility infielder Leo Rivas. But Weston Wilson was there for the second straight game on Sunday. At leadoff, Randy Arozarena made his second straight start there Sunday, after the game of his Mariners career in that spot the day prior.
As for Woo, he mixed in all of his pitches and with higher intensity. Both pitching coach Pete Woodworth and director of pitching strategy Trent Blank shared praise in passing on the electric right-hander, too.
“It wasn't one of those things that I felt like my season was in jeopardy or something like that,” Woo said. “It was just a matter of, 'All right, what's the proper way of going about this?' And dealing with it the right way.”
The Mariners had been waiting to see how Woo came out of Sunday’s session to determine their rotation alignment for their upcoming series against the Phillies. The club listed Logan Gilbert for Monday and George Kirby on Tuesday, with Wednesday TBD.
“It's just being smart about what's realistic, being smart about a couple of days off and coming back and not missing much time,” Woo said. “But yeah, it's a really tough balance, especially at this time of year. Especially with the position that we're in, we don't really have any room for grace, really. It's a sprint now.”
Woo was pushed back from his scheduled turn on Saturday against the Cubs, but Dan Wilson said at the outset of this series that the club did not think that Woo would necessitate a stint on the IL.
Woo missed nearly one month at the end of the regular season last year due to a pectoral strain that limited him to just two postseason outings, both in relief and not until the ALCS. Before his breakout in 2025, when he was a first-time All-Star and the staff ace, he dealt with injuries in each of his first four pro seasons.