Brendan Donovan’s return will be ‘huge boost’ to M’s, analyst says

After being out for more than two months, it appears that prized offseason trade acquisition Brendan Donovan could return to the Seattle Mariners any day now.

Maybe even Friday night when they begin a critical series between American League playoff contenders with the surprising Minnesota Twins at T-Mobile Park.

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The Seattle Times’ Adam Jude reported last week Donovan was scheduled to meet with the club’s medical staff in Seattle on Monday for a physical evaluation, and there was a chance he could be activated Tuesday when the Mariners began a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Instead, Donovan remained on rehab and transferred from High-A Everett to Triple-A Tacoma.

When Donovan does return, how much of an impact will it make for the Mariners? M’s color analyst and former MLB pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith answered that question Thursday when he joined Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

“Look, (it’s) a huge boost to the to the offense,” Rowland-Smith said. “… You (could) get him right before you’re trying to prove to the front office that, hey, we want you to go hard here at the trade deadline. Don’t make these kind of mid-range, we’ll see how this goes, this might give you a little boost here (type of moves). If you wanna go all in like they did with (Eugenio Suárez) and Josh Naylor last year, you gotta show something from in house. So, I think Brendan Donovan adds to that.”

The MLB trade deadline is at 3 p.m. this coming Monday.

Donovan missed extensive time with the left groin muscle strain that landed him on the injured list May 16. He returned to game action for the first time nearly a full two months later on July 15 and has gone just 6 for 44 at the plate (.144 average) in 11 games on his rehab assignment.

Despite Donovan’s offensive struggles during the rehab stint, Rowland-Smith has faith he could still provide the M’s a quick spark upon returning.

“It’s gonna be interesting because it’s been a little bit, but at the same time when you have a guy whose skill set is… good at-bats and good contact, I think that’s much easier to get in a rhythm and make an impact right out the gates as opposed to someone like a Cal (Raleigh) who is trying to get the timing down and time up mistakes and hit them out of ballpark,” Rowland-Smith said. “So yes, it will be a huge boost.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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