SEATTLE - The Seattle Mariners are still waiting on Brendan Donovan, and the third baseman’s return is coming down to one more hurdle.
Donovan has made what general manager Justin Hollander called “incremental” progress after suffering a concussion on Aug. 22, when he was hit by a pitch in the batting cages without a helmet on. But the final step has not come yet.
“Some days are better than others,” Hollander said. “The last few days during the pregame he has felt symptomatic towards the end of each of those pregames, whether it’s like a little bit of nausea, fatigue, dizziness - things that it’s just not OK if we run him out there when he’s feeling those things.”
Seattle is continuing to put Donovan through pregame testing. Once he can get through those sessions without symptoms, he’ll be cleared for activation. Even then, the Mariners may want him to log a game or two with Triple-A Tacoma before bringing him back, since he has now missed nearly two weeks.
“We’ll see when we cross that bridge whether he needs to go and take some at-bats in Tacoma or whether it’s just straight activation,” Hollander said.
The timing matters because Donovan had been heating up before the injury stopped him in his tracks. He has played only 39 games this season, with two trips to the injured list already, one for a left groin muscle strain and now this concussion.
Before the incident in the batting cages, he had reached base in 10 of his past 11 games and piled up six multi-hit performances. Over that stretch, he hit .318/.375/.386 with three doubles, seven RBIs and six runs scored.
Without him, Seattle has pieced together third base with Weston Wilson and Brock Rodden. The setup has functioned like a platoon, but the production hasn’t matched Donovan’s recent run. In 11 games since the injury entering Thursday, Mariners third basemen were hitting .237/.310/.263 with one extra-base hit and a 74 wRC+.
Hollander also ran through updates on several other injured Mariners.
Starting pitcher Emerson Hancock is set to throw on Sunday, either off a mound or on flat ground. After that session, the team will decide where he stands in his recovery from a left abductor strain.
Hancock was hurt last Friday while making a sharp play in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays, sliding to field a ball and tag a runner in front of first base. He stayed in the game and worked five innings, throwing 65 pitches.
His move to the IL pushed Bryce Miller back into the rotation after Miller had been shifted to the bullpen last Friday. Miller made his first start since that brief bullpen stint on Wednesday and helped Seattle snap an eight-game losing streak in his starts, giving up one run on seven hits and one walk while striking out three over 4 2/3 innings in an 8-3 win over the Red Sox.
Reliever Matt Brash had an MRI on his right lat after feeling tightness following a bullpen session in Boston earlier this week.
Cole Wilcox, who is working back from a left oblique strain, is expected to get on a mound this weekend, either on the front of the slope or from the rubber. After that, he’ll throw a couple of bullpen sessions with the aim of getting rehab games with Triple-A Tacoma before its season ends Sept.
- The Mariners hope the right-hander can still make it back before their season is over.
Nick Davila’s situation is different. He is dealing with either a stress reaction or a sprain in his SC joint, which connects the clavicle to the sternum, and the club will learn more after MRI results from Thursday. Either way, his season is done.
Victor Robles was also away from the team Thursday, heading to the Dominican Republic to deal with a family emergency after being placed on the family medical emergency list.
“Every indication is that everybody will be OK. But Victor is in the right place heading to the D.R. right now, and our thoughts are with Victor and his family,” Hollander said.
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