Mariners avoid potential disaster with All-Star Brendan Donovan

While the series loss to the Angels was extremely disappointing for the Mariners, the road trip to Anaheim could have turned out even worse.

No one will deny the Mariners are off to a slow start this season or that the series in Anaheim was ultimately disappointing, as they lost Sunday’s rubber match versus an Angels team which is once again not expected to be very good. Speaking about the 8-7 loss in 11 innings which dropped them to 4-6, manager Dan Wilson said:

“We had a tough loss today to end the series. I thought the way our guys came back there at the end (in the ninth inning), they fought to get back into that game and just weren’t able to do it in extras. … I thought we had our chances and we had some good swings with runners in scoring position, but (were) just not able to get the big hit to kind of break it open.”

As we’ve said time and time again, it’s still early and it’s not as if the Mariners don’t make a habit of starting the season slowly. This includes just last year, when they began 4-8 before going on to get closer than ever before to a first World Series berth.

Mariners waiting for Cal Raleigh and company to get warmed up

Still, it’s not going to stop certain segments of the fanbase from worrying about the hitting woes of the likes of Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor, or Logan Gilbert looking little like the staff ace he was just two seasons ago. There’s of course little we can do to help with these concerns, but we will say that the Mariners were fortunate that they didn’t lose more than just the series in Anaheim.

Brendan Donovan was the M’s’ big offseason trade acquisition and through the first two series of the 2026 campaign had been as hot as anyone, safely reaching base in all seven games and producing a 1.283 OPS. So when he had to leave the seventh inning of Friday night’s series opener versus the Angels after landing awkwardly on first base while attempting to leg out an infield single, plenty of people must have feared the worst.

Fortunately for Donovan and the Mariners, his MRI came back clean and he was listed as day-to-day with right groin discomfort, with him not expected to need a stint on the Injured List. The organization is understandably taking a cautious approach though, due to the 2025 All-Star undergoing surgery for a sports hernia at the end of last season.

Still, we appreciate there will be those who won’t be happy until they actually see Donovan back on the field and playing. Look no further than the situation with Bryce Miller, who was initially not expected to miss much time with left side oblique inflammation, but based on the latest timeline projections will now not return until the end of April.

Brendan Donovan hopeful of returning sometime during the Rangers series in Texas

If it does help offer any encouragement, Donovan participated in some pregame light drills the day after suffering his minor groin issue. He then took ground balls on Sunday ahead of the series finale, and there’s the possibility he will return to the lineup as soon as Monday evening, for the first of three games in Texas versus the Rangers.

Even allowing for when Donovan does return to action combined with his hot bat, there’s been criticism about his performances at third base. Despite 46 games of experience at the position prior to this year, the concern is that he’s not going to improve at the hot corner even as the 2026 campaign progresses.

One solution is to call Colt Emerson up sooner than later, as Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto recently said he will mostly play at third base this season, with J.P. Crawford remaining at shortstop. However, Emerson has now suffered a setback of his own, after taking a foul ball off his right foot during a game on Saturday with Triple-A Tacoma.

Emerson has been listed as day-to-day after X-rays on his foot came back negative, but clearly there will be no rush to bring him back too soon for Triple-A Tacoma, never mind calling him up to the majors. As such, in the immediate future it’s about getting Donovan back on the diamond while also considering other options at third base, as the Mariners look to overcome another slow start to a season and live up to the predictions as a genuine World Series contender.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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