Donovan (groin) moves rehab to Triple-A

Donovan has been given the green light to be activated from the injured list, but is technically away from the club on paternity leave this weekend. The 29-year-old infielder wrapped up a minor league rehab assignment earlier this week and will be activated in a couple days. He’s been on the shelf working his way back from a groin issue since mid-May.

Donovan had just one extra-base hit in nine rehab games before this, so the home run is nice to see. It’s also interesting to note that he played the whole game in right field on Tuesday. With Cole Young, J.P. Crawford, and Colt Emerson playing every day in the field, you have to wonder if Seattle would bring Donovan back to play mostly outfield and cut into playing time for Dominic Canzone and/or Luke Raley. It’s a situation to monitor.

Donovan went hitless in four at-bats out of the DH spot in his latest rehab contest. The 29-year-old is going to need at least a handful of additional contests to get back up to speed before the Mariners make a decision on whether to activate him. Hes been out with a groin strain since mid-May.

Donovan batted leadoff and was the designated hitter. He’s been on the injured list with a strained groin since May 17th, so Donovan will likely need a few weeks of games before he’s back up in Seattle. How the playing time shakes out now that Cole Young and Colt Emerson are both up will be the other question that needs to be answered.

Donovan has been on the shelf with a groin strain since mid-May. He figures to spend most of his time at second base and the hot corner once he’s back with the Mariners.

It’s typically the final step before a position player heads out on a minor league rehab assignment. The Mariners could certainly use Donovan back given their injury issues up and down the roster. The 29-year-old infielder has been battling lingering groin issues pretty much all season, which he believes are tied to last year’s sports hernia surgery. He’s been on the injured list since mid-May due to a groin strain.

It’s going to be more than a 10-day stay. The plan is for him to shut it down for a spell and then return to full activities in two or three weeks. Colt Emerson will serve as the regular third baseman for now, the Mariners confirmed.

It’s the same injury that sidelined him from Apr. 18 to May 8. Donovan had been 6-for-28 with no RBI since returning. Colt Emerson figures to be the Mariners’ primary third baseman for now, and the Mariners won’t have to make any big decisions regarding Donovan or J.P. Crawford until Donovan returns.

He isn’t currently in Sunday night’s lineup, and neither is Brendan Donovan. The 20-year-old Emerson was hitting .255/.347/.469 with seven homers and 10 steals in 38 games for Tacoma. 33 of his 38 starts had come at shortstop, with the rest at third base, so it will be interesting to see if the Mariners give him a chance to displace J.P. Crawford. For now, with Donovan limited, the easy move would be to play him at third most of the time. However, Emerson seems like a clear upgrade defensively at shortstop. Offensively, he might not be quite ready. He was striking out 27 percent of the time in Triple-A, and his exit velocity numbers were pretty average. He’s very likely to turn into a fine regular in time, but those in shallow leagues can probably ignore him for now.

Usually “load management” is a term reserved for NBA players, but for Seattle, it’s about making sure Donovan doesn’t aggravate the groin injury that has seen him miss time already in 2026 and required surgery in 2025. When Donovan has played he’s been effective, but fantasy managers have to be prepared for some absences for the foreseeable future.