Brendan Donovan returns to lineup for Seattle Mariners | Notebook

ARLINGTON, Texas — When the Mariners finished their daily ground-ball work, Brendan Donovan remained at third base chatting with infield coach Perry Hill and asking questions — he’s always asking questions — to help be prepared for Monday night’s game vs. the Rangers.

Admittedly, he’s adjusting to third base, a position he played infrequently at the MLB level before being acquired by the Mariners.

The field turf infield of Globe Life Field presents some differences compared to T-Mobile Park and Angel Stadium, the first two fields the Mariners played on this season. Donovan appeared to be asking about the intricacies of when to give ground on hard-hit balls.

Once batting practice started, Donovan remained at third base, working on his prep step before every pitch and getting reads off the bat of the hitters, fielding the balls close to him. It’s the closest thing to a game rep off the bat. After being out of the lineup for the final two games of the series vs. the Angels, seeing something close to a gamelike ground ball was preferred.

Donovan tweaked his groin while hustling out a ground ball to second, lunging awkwardly for first base trying beat the throw. It sent pain up the inside of his left leg. Since Donovan had surgery to repair a sports hernia right after the end of last season, the Mariners’ medical staff didn’t want to take any chances. They pulled him from Friday’s game and opted to rest him for the next two days.

“He’s feeling a lot better,” manager Dan Wilson said.

With Texas starting right-hander Jacob deGrom, Donovan was inserted back into the leadoff spot.

In his first eight games this season, Donovan had a .370/.485/.667 slash line with two doubles, two homers and four RBI.

While Donovan returned to the lineup, shortstop J.P. Crawford was out of the starting lineup with Leo Rivas slotted in at shortstop.

Crawford, who dealt with shoulder fatigue and inflammation during spring training, was reinstated from the injured list before the series in Anaheim. He started all three games vs. the Angels. This was a planned day off for Crawford as the Mariners want to control his usage early on.

“This is just a normal progression coming out of an injury like he’s suffered,” Wilson said. “He is just getting his season started. I think we’re in a good spot with that. It’s just a chance for him to get a little bit of a rest today and get him back in there tomorrow.”

Looking back

April 6 was a pretty important day in Mariners’ franchise history. On this day in 1977, the franchise played its first game. The opening-night crowd of 57,762 that filled the Kingdome is a record that won’t be broken. The Mariners lost 7-0 to the California Angels.