Mariners' silence on Brendan Donovan understandably has fans fearing the worst

In some respects Brendan Donovan perfectly represents the adversity the Mariners have faced this season -- full of potential, but unable to stay healthy. Thus far limited to just 25 games, there are concerns about how much he's going to play in the second half of the 2026 campaign. Those fears are only going to grow now, following the latest update.

Donovan was meant to start a minor league rehab assignment last week, but nothing happened, with only vague answers offered. Subsequently, it was advised he would begin his rehab assignment during the All-Star break. However, the ACL Mariners played on Tuesday in Arizona, and he was still nowhere to be seen.

As noted by Brady Farkas of the Refuse To Lose podcast, this means Donovan now only has a maximum of two rehab games before the Mariners return to action on Friday evening. In other words, he realistically won't be ready to go to begin the second half of the season, with this whole situation now just getting very strange.

As such, it's own natural to have questions about the health of Donovan. Did he have a setback? Or is he just not as ready as he and/or the team though he would be? With everything the Mariners have gone through on the injury front in 2026, neither would be a surprise at this point.

From a key component to a World Series berth for the Mariners, to a potential hindrance

There was so much understandable excitement surrounding the blockbuster trade which led to the offseason acquisition of Donovan. The combination of his offensive productivity, defensive versatility, work ethic and leadership qualities made him seem like the type of player to take the Mariners over the top, after finishing last year just eight outs short of a first ever World Series berth.

The Mariners were well aware of Donovan's surgery to repair a sports hernia, but it wasn't expected to be much of an issue. Even when he went on the Injured List the first time this season due to a left muscle groin strain, there wasn't too much concern. It was only when he returned to the Injured List with the same issue after just over one week back in the lineup, that people started to wonder if there might be more reason to worry.

We don't particularly like being negative about this situation, but it's only natural to drift in that direction. It's just been that kind of a season for the Mariners, with Donovan's absence being made worse by how productive he has been when available. In fact, allowing for the small sample size, his .452 slugging percentage, .839 OPS, 141 OPS+ and 145 wRC+ all project to career-bests.

On the subject of career numbers, even if Donovan was to play the remainder of the regular season in Seattle, his 90 total games would be the fewest of his five years in the majors. This seems about right for a Mariners franchise used to having more bad luck than most. Ultimately, his health is absolutely the No. 1 priority here, but if he isn't going to see much more action in 2026, this could impact the team's chances come September time.

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