How Mariners can spice up bland starting lineup when Brendan Donovan comes off IL

It felt like the sky was falling when the Seattle Mariners placed Brendan Donovan on the injured list in April. But since that hasn't proven to be the case, it makes one wonder if the Mariners could finally take off once he returns to the lineup this weekend.

After sitting for a few weeks with left groin strain, Donovan is currently on a rehab assignment with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. The plan is for him to be activated on Friday for the opener of a three-game set against the Chicago White Sox.

As for how things have been going in Donovan's absence, the offense brings good tidings:

With Donovan: .645 OPS, 3.7 R/G
Without Donovan: .746 OPS, 4.2 R/G

Not bad, considering that Donovan was the team's best hitter when he went on the IL. And for this, it has sure helped that Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor have warmed up.

Then again, Seattle's offense was supposed to be elite this year, and it's… well, not that so far. The way forward should not be as simple as plugging Donovan back in and hoping everything falls into place. It's time to consider a new starting nine.

Pitching a new starting lineup that could get the Mariners offense fully online

Without further delay, here's the pitch:

Brendan Donovan, 3B (L)
Julio Rodríguez, CF (R)
Cal Raleigh, C (S)
Josh Naylor, 1B (L)
Randy Arozarena, LF (R)
Luke Raley, RF (L)
J.P. Crawford, SS (L)
Dominic Canzone, DH (L)
Cole Young, 2B (L)

To be clear, this is meant to be a default order against right-handed starters. It's meant to be familiar and sensible, but also just different enough as to be more interesting and, hopefully, more productive. Please allow us to explain.

Donovan over Crawford at leadoff

This one is simple. Batting Donovan leadoff was the plan as soon as the Mariners acquired him in February, and his early returns give the team no cause to reconsider.

At the time he went on the IL, Donovan had a .437 OBP with nine walks against 12 strikeouts in 71 plate appearances. Whereas the four home runs he hit were a nice power bonus, his approach alluded to why the Mariners wanted him setting the table for the big guys.

Flipping Rodríguez and Raleigh

It's OK if you missed it at first glance, but this is the big change. Save for the three games that Raleigh missed with soreness in his side, it's been him in the No. 2 spot and Julio in the No. 3 spot all year.

This is how Dan Wilson was lining them up at the end of 2025, and that mostly worked out. But with the duo thus far failing to launch in 2026 — they've combined for a .220/.294/.383 slash line — it's time to consider flipping them just for the sake of throwing something at the wall to see if it sticks.

For what it's worth, both did better out of the No. 3 spot last year. But per the contemporary wisdom that your best hitter should bat second, the Mariners need to ask if Raleigh is truly their best hitter. He obviously was last year, but his career .311 OBP and 123 wRC+ don't stack up to Julio's marks of .331 and 128. And while he hasn't truly gotten hot yet, this slow start looks better than previous iterations.

The 4 lefties in the back half

Though we prefer Donovan in the leadoff spot, that's no knock on Crawford. He's always had a strong knack for getting on base, and he's leaning into it in 2026. His OBP is a solid .367, and he's had a .439 OBP out of the leadoff spot.

Yet given that Wilson has no choice but to string left-handed batters together in the back half of the order, the trick needs to be limiting the inherent vulnerability of that reality. To this end, consider those four guys' career wRC+ against left-handed pitching:

Luke Raley: 56
J.P. Crawford: 97
Dominic Canzone: 79
Cole Young: 100

Raley and Canzone are nowhere close to average against lefty hurlers, whereas Crawford and Young basically are average. Using them in this way is a dodge of one of two bad outcomes: a lefty mowing down Raley and Canzone in succession, or pinch-hitters taking their spots only to get mowed down by right-handed pitching later in the game.

Whether you take it or leave it, this is the best lineup pitch we've got. What we should be able to agree on either way is that the status quo just isn't good enough. To stick with it would be to enter into a real-time experiment on doing the same thing an expecting different results.

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Pitching a new starting lineup that could get the Mariners offense fully online

Donovan over Crawford at leadoff

Flipping Rodríguez and Raleigh

The 4 lefties in the back half

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