Mariners place Donovan on IL, recall Wilson from Tacoma for infield depth

Seattle’s infield lost its hottest bat and filled the spot with a player Tacoma has been waiting to showcase. The Mariners placed Brendan Donovan on the 10-day injured list with a left groin muscle strain and selected Will Wilson from Triple-A Tacoma, a move that also sent Miles Mastrobuoni to the 60-day injured list to keep the 40-man roster at 40.

Donovan’s absence matters because he had been driving the lineup from the top. Through 18 games, he was hitting .304 with a .437 on-base percentage, a .954 OPS and 180 OPS+, and he tied for the major-league lead with two leadoff home runs. One of them came on Opening Day, when he launched the first leadoff homer in Mariners history on March 26. Donovan had also been Seattle’s third baseman every day so far, even though his career profile includes time at second base, left field, right field, first base and shortstop.

Wilson gives Seattle an immediate insurance policy on the dirt. The 27-year-old was batting .275 in 14 games for Tacoma this season, with four runs, two doubles, one home run, four RBI, seven walks and a .783 OPS. He signed a minor-league contract with the Mariners on January 26 and came to camp with a spring training invitation, then forced his way into the conversation with steady early production and the kind of recent major-league experience clubs trust in a pinch.

That experience is part of why Wilson got the nod. He appeared in 34 games for Cleveland last season and hit .192, with most of his major-league work coming at second base and third base. Seattle did not need to guess at his defensive background, either. Wilson has already played both middle-infield and corner-infield roles in his career, making him a practical fit while Donovan heals and Mastrobuoni remains out with the right calf strain that had already put him on the shelf.

The promotion also reshapes Tacoma’s infield. Wilson had been one of the Rainiers’ more experienced options at second and third, so his exit trims a layer of stability from the roster and forces Tacoma to redistribute those innings. For Seattle, though, the logic is clear: with the club sitting fourth in the AL West at 10-13 entering the Athletics series at T-Mobile Park, the Mariners chose the player most ready to cover multiple spots and keep the infield moving until Donovan can return as early as April 28.