Brendan Donovan is doing what he does best — making contact, driving in runs, and quietly climbing the batting average leaderboard. The South Alabama product had one of his best weeks of the 2026 season, going on a tear that pushed his average from .254 to .277 and turned heads in the Mariners' lineup.
Donovan was relatively quiet to open the stretch, drawing a walk in Sunday's game against Houston on August 16 without recording a hit. Then the switch flipped.
He recorded a hit in each of the next four games — a single Tuesday against the Brewers (.256), a two-hit, two-run effort Wednesday (.266), and then a two-hit, two-RBI night Thursday (.273) that signaled something real was building. By the time Saturday rolled around, Donovan had added another two-hit, one-RBI showing in a 5-4 win over the Cubs, finishing the week at .277.
The highlight of the stretch, though, came in a 10-5 dismantling of the Astros on August 22, when Donovan went 3-for-5 with three RBI. He was the offensive engine in a blowout that also featured eight strikeouts from starter Emerson Hancock over seven innings. Donovan's line for that game alone was the kind of afternoon that earns clips — three knocks, three runs driven in, and a clean result in the win column.
The week as a whole tells the broader story: eight hits over five games, six RBI, and a 23-point jump in batting average. For a third baseman who entered the week hovering just above the Mendoza line's respectable cousin, that kind of production is momentum-defining. If Donovan carries this form into September, he's positioned himself as one of the more reliable bats in Seattle's lineup down the stretch.
No other South Alabama alumni had statistically notable performances during the August 16–22 window, but Donovan more than carried the Jaguars' banner in the majors this week. Mobile, Alabama's most prominent big leaguer is heating up at exactly the right time of year — and Mariners fans have every reason to pay attention.
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