When Brendan Donovan is expected to return to Mariners

SEATTLE – If all goes to plan, third baseman Brendan Donovan will return to the Seattle Mariners at the start of their next road trip.

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General manager Justin Hollander on Friday said Donovan will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Arkansas on Tuesday. The plan is for Donovan to play two games with the Travelers and join the M’s in Chicago next Friday for the start of a three-game series against the White Sox.

Donovan has been out since April 18 with a left groin muscle strain.

Donovan, who also missed two games during the second week of the season with a groin issue, had sports hernia surgery last October. Hollander was unsure if the groin issues are directly related, but noted past M’s players who had the surgery have felt its lingering effects into the next season.

“I assume they’re somewhat connected,” Hollander said. “I know that we’ve had these injuries in the past and the players who have had the offseason sports hernia surgery tend to battle it for a good portion of the season the next year. It just doesn’t always feel comfortable.”

When Donovan does return to the major league team, the M’s will likely need to manage his workload.

“His pain tolerance is pretty high. He’s a real grinder. What we don’t want him to do is grind himself into longer stints on the IL or more early work than he needs and not have him be in a position where he feels strong for the game,” Hollander said. “So I do think there’s going to be some workload-management things we can do, whether that’s pregame, or more DH days or an occasional off day to make sure that he’s in a good spot physically.”

Donovan had been one of the Mariners best hitters early on before landing on the injured list. In 18 games, he’s hitting .304 with a .437 on-base percentage, .518 slugging percentage and .954 OPS. The 29 year old has three homers, three doubles and nine walks to 12 strikeouts.

The Mariners begin a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals on Friday night at 6:45 p.m. Radio coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. with the pregame show on Seattle Sports 710 AM and the Seattle Sports app. 

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