ANAHEIM, Calif — Brendan Donovan knows he supposed to run through first base and not leap or lunge for it.
He knows that not changing his stride and continuing to run is a faster than making a long one-footed leap or lunge. It’s also much safer in terms of injury.
And yet …
“I know,” he said with a sheepish smile. “But I really wanted to get that hit.”
In the seventh inning of a 0-0 game, Donovan was trying hard to get a rally started. He hit a hard ground ball just to the right of the second-base bag. It looked like it was hit off the bat. But Oswald Peraza made a nice sliding backhand attempt to knock the ball down, scrambled to his feet and fired to first.
Seeing it was going to be close, Donovan made long leap toward the bag, landing awkwardly on his left leg and then using his right leg as a brace to stop him from falling forward and landing on his face.
And while it looked like the left leg would be the issue, he felt a shooting pain up through the inside of his right leg, through the groin and into his hip.
“It was a little painful,” he said. “But I’ve kind of got to manage it.”
After consulting with trainers, he was removed from the game for precautionary reasons. Donovan suffered a groin strain late last season that forced him to the 10-day injured list on August 18. He returned to the Cardinals lineup on Sept. 12, but a general discomfort still persisted. He underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia on Oct. 7, 2025.
The Mariners medical staff wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything to harm the surgically repaired area. He underwent an MRI on Saturday morning. The results came back clean, providing some relief for Donovan and the organization.
While manager Dan Wilson kept him out of the starting lineup, going with Leo Rivas at third base instead, Donovan was out with the team pregame. Working with strength coach Matt Rutledge, he went through a series of agility drills and did some light sprinting.
“We wanted to test it out,” he said. “It feels good.”
Donovan is considered “day-to-day,” according to Wilson.
The logical fill-in for Donovan had he needed an IL stint is also hurting. Top prospect Colt Emerson, who just signed an 8-year, $95 million contract, fouled a ball off his foot in his first plate appearance of the first game of a doubleheader at Cheney Stadium on Saturday. Video replays show the ball catching Emerson flush on the top inside part of his foot in a part not protected by his leg guard.
Emerson was in obvious pain. He finished the at-bat, but was removed from the game. The Mariners didn’t have any updates on Emerson.