Brendan Donovan's post-Cardinals tenure continues to be full of obstacles

Since being traded to the Seattle Mariners, Brendan Donovan has shaved his beard and experienced a splattering of injuries. Donovan has played in only 39 of the Mariners' 144 games this year, a far cry from his career average of 123 games per year. Donovan's latest injury, a concussion he experienced during batting practice, is really taking a toll on the utility player.

Cardinals fans were devastated when Brendan Donovan was traded this past winter, but they certainly understood the move.

Donnie's slash line of .277.371/.409 for a .780 OPS is right in line with his career numbers. However, he has only three home runs and 15 RBIs this year after having seen only 159 plate appearances.

Donovan has been on the IL four times this year, once for a hip injury in mid-April, two separate stints for a groin issue, and most recently due to a concussion. Donovan sustained this concussion during batting practice when a thrown baseball in the batting cages got away and struck him in the back of his head.

Donnie has been out since August 22nd as a result, and he's still feeling major effects of the concussion nearly three weeks later.

Brendan Donovan's concussion is the latest in a long line of downturns for the former St. Louis Cardinal.

In an interview with Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Brendan Donovan revealed some truths about his recovery from his concussion. According to Donovan himself, he still feels like he's going to throw up when he takes ground balls during warm-ups.

"The first thing that happens is I start to get a little dizzy,” Donovan told Kramer. He continued, saying "The area that I got hit, kind of on the back of the head, has a lot to do with processing information, tracking with your eyes, and I guess just like relaying information."

Clearly, Brendan Donovan is still feeling the effects of his concussion two-and-a-half weeks ago.

This doesn't bode well for the Seattle Mariners, who sit six games back of the division-leading Houston Astros for the American League West and 5.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot. Donovan was supposed to be a focal point of the offense, and he simply hasn't been available for the Mariners.

When Seattle acquired Donovan over the offseason, their hope was that he would provided left-handed consistency at the plate and a solid glove at multiple positions. He's done both well so far this year, but he's missed more than 100 games already this year with just three weeks left to go in the season.

Seattle gave up two top prospects in Jurrangelo Cijntje, a switch-throwing pitcher, and outfielder Tai Peete. Cijntje has a 5.12 ERA across two levels of the minors, but he's struck out 28.4% of batters he's faced, and he has an expected ERA of just 3.32. The insane offensive environment throughout the minors has had a major impact on Cijntje's numbers.

Peete, still only 20 years old at Double-A Springfield, has slugged 13 home runs with a .296/.362/.559 slash line in 63 games. He's also played quite well defensively.

It's a shame to see Brendan Donovan go through so many struggles with Seattle. He became a fan favorite in St. Louis and a true leader in the Cardinals' clubhouse. No one is hurting more than Donovan right now, both physically and mentally. Hopefully he can kick these concussion symptoms soon and finish strong with Seattle.

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