St. Louis Cardinals utility player Brendan Donovan was scratched from tonight’s lineup due to “lingering foot pain—an injury that caused his recent groin soreness,” per MLB.com’s John Denton.
Manager Oli Marmol believes it could sideline Donovan for multiple days but won’t require a stint on the 10-day injured list. The Cardinals begin a three-game series tonight vs. the New York Yankees at Busch Stadium.
Brendan Donovan has been scratched from tonight’s #STLCards lineup because of lingering foot pain — an injury that caused his recent groin soreness. Manager Oli Marmol thinks it could be a multi-day injury, but won’t require him to go on the 10-day IL.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) August 15, 2025
This marks the fourth time Donovan has been absent from the starting lineup this week. He sat out the final two games of St. Louis’ series against the Chicago Cubs last weekend due to left groin tightness, but he returned on Monday to pinch-hit vs. the Colorado Rockies and ended up delivering a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning that led to a 3-2 victory.
Donovan is an essential part of a Cardinals team that sits 3.5 games out of the last NL Wild Card spot. He made his first All-Star team this season and is batting .279/.348/.402 over 110 games with 9 homers and 45 RBI. Teammate Miles Mikolas spoke to his impact on Monday after Donovan drove home the game-winning run vs. Colorado.
“…What he did was huge. But he’s an All-Star, and that’s what he’s supposed to do,” he said, per Denton. “He’s got to carry that All-Star badge and do those things on a regular basis and save us when we need him.”
Denton writes that Donovan “hates sitting out innings” and admits he doesn’t make for the best teammate during absences because of his desire to get back in the game. But Donovan will likely have to take another multi-day break, with the hopes that some more time off—as difficult as it is for him—can help his foot injury.
“It all stems back to the toe,” he said earlier this week. “When your feet—the things that contact the ground—get all banged up, it tends to go up the chain and that’s what caused this. …But I still want to play every day.”
