Seattle Mariners' Brendan Donovan looks to be perfect fit

The Seattle Mariners traded for Brendan Donovan to be a steady presence in their lineup who gets on base at a high clip. And through his first four games with the team, he’s doing exactly that.

Well, the former St. Louis Cardinals All-Sta is actually doing a lot more, but that’s just a bonus at this point.

Six standouts from Seattle Mariners’ season-opening series

In the Mariners’ season-opening four-game series that they split with Cleveland, Donovan went 6 for 14 with two home runs, a double, four runs scored, four RBIs and a stolen base. He enters Monday’s 6:40 p.m. series opener against the Yankees with a .429 average, .556 on-base percentage and 1.484 OPS – and most surprisingly a .929 slugging mark. Donovan’s career-high slugging for a single season is .422.

National play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti, who was on the call for the Mariners’ win Sunday night on Peacock, talked to Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Monday about how well Donovan fits into the M’s lineup.

“I love Brendan Donovan for this team. I think it’s a really good get,” Benetti said. “I think his level of care about the really small things in baseball is enormous for this team. I said it last night, but the Cardinals couldn’t have used him like the Mariners can use him. I just think he’s got a little bit of that, like, ‘forget you’ sort of in him about the game of baseball.”

Benetti, who also is the TV voice for the Detroit Tigers, pointed out that the addition of Donovan should help the Mariners avoid a problem that hurt Detroit last year as it lost 13 of its last 16 games and just barely got into the playoffs as a wild card team while ceding the Central Division to Cleveland.

“You have more variation in types of hitters, as well,” Benetti said of the Mariners’ lineup this season. “In my experience watching the Tigers last year, part of what brought them back to the pack to Cleveland is that they had a bunch of hitters who became kind of one-dimensional and one-note. And I don’t think the Mariners are as deep in one-note hitters.

“There are some really, really freaking good one-note hitters in Major League Baseball, but when you have a lot of guys doing the same type of thing, that strikeout number goes up, and you’re like, where did the innings go? What why are we in the seventh and there are two hits on the board?”

With Donovan atop Seattle’s batting order, the Mariners should be able to avoid too many nights like that. Benetti commended the Mariners’ front office for identifying the need for a hitter who can help in that regard.

“I think Donovan does that in a big way for this lineup,” Benetti continued, “and I think that’s growth as an organization, too – that you know you need a piece like that.”

Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Jason Benetti in the podcast at this link or in the player below. Catch Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

Seattle Mariners’ Brendan Donovan looks to be perfect fit

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