Brendan Donovan showing he’s a ‘tremendous’ add in clubhouse

Brendan Donovan has been making a good impression in his first spring training with the Seattle Mariners, and that’s not been limited to his playing ability.

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As committed as the 29-year-old All-Star utility man is about being Seattle’s new leadoff hitter and starting third baseman, he’s just as serious about his role as a teammate. That’s something that stood out in his Cactus League debut for the team last week, as he remained in the dugout even after being lifted from the game.

It’s typical for veteran players to leave the field and go about their days after coming out of spring training contests, but Donovan saw it as an opportunity to learn more about the team.

“I’m new here,” Donovan said about sticking around in the dugout. “I’m trying to see how people play, talk to and build relationships on a personal level, and I feel that’s important to do in the dugout too. I believe in getting to know someone as a person too and then you get to know them as a player as well. That’s an area I tried to lean into today. I’m glad I was able to hang out a little later.”

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How Donovan has gone about his business has jumped out to former Mariners pitcher Charlie Furbush, who has been at the team’s complex in Arizona and serving as an analyst on the radio and TV broadcasts.

“It’s been a joy to watch Donovan come into camp,” Furbush said. “As somebody who’s been traded to a new team when I showed up to the Mariners for the first time, it can be a little nerve-wracking. Who’s who? You’re doing a bunch of introductions, you don’t know where to go, where things are. But what you continue to see out of Donovan is that he is actually putting in the work to get to know his teammates. And that is a humongous, tremendous add inside that clubhouse.”

It seems like a good sign both for how well Donovan will fit in with the Mariners and the influence he will have in the clubhouse.

“Inside that locker room, guys leave it all out on the line and we all care so much, we want to win,” Furbush said, “but sometimes you’ve gotta pull a layer back and get to know the human a little bit more, and build trust with somebody so that you can rely on these teammates of yours when you’re struggling or what have you. So he’s done such a good job to become a great teammate, and I think that is one of the things that is so important for all athletes to make sure that they do, is make sure you’re a good teammate, make sure you do the right things, and this stuff will echo throughout the clubhouse and people will see this.

“It shows me a high character, high leader-type guy that’s going to go out there and grind, and he really cares about winning. It’s been a joy just to get to know him, and I can feel the excitement he has.”

It was well established early in the offseason that Donovan was a trade target for the Mariners, but the deal with the St. Louis Cardinals to bring him to Seattle didn’t occur until early this month. There was no escaping the rumors for Donovan, and perhaps that has helped him hit the ground running quickly with his new team.

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“He’s excited to be here,” Furbush said. “He mentioned how he thought he was going to come here, maybe the deal took a little bit longer (than expected), but he’s certainly been excited, and certainly excited to watch from our side of things. And I don’t think that any Mariners fans are going to be upset with this type of player that we’ve got on this roster.”

Hear the full Wyman and Bob conversation with baseball analyst and former Mariners pitcher Charlie Furbush in the podcast at this link or in the player below. Catch Wyman and Bob from 2-7 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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