Brendan Donovan

28-Year-Old Second Baseman2B

St. Louis Cardinals

Day-To-Day

Injury Toe

2025 Stats

AVG

.310

RBI

Rest-of-Season Projections

AVG

RBI

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2025 Fantasy Outlook

After a flexor tendon issue limited him to just 95 games in 2023, Donovan stayed healthy in 2024, reaching career highs in games (153) and plate appearances (652). That helped lead to career bests in home runs, RBI and runs, too, although the 28-year-old's .759 OPS and 115 wRC+ were both low-water marks. It was due mainly to Donovan's walk rate falling for the second year in a row down to 7.2 percent, which is below average and a far cry from the 12.8 percent mark he had as a rookie. He still had a solid .342 OBP thanks to an elite contact rate keeping his average up, but the Cardinals moved away from Donovan as their regular leadoff man in June and Masyn Winn grabbed that gig. Because he's not a standout in any statistical category, Donovan really needs a prime spot in the batting order to elevate his standing in fantasy leagues. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

Rest of Season

Overall Rank

Dynasty

From Preseason

#240

ADP

League Majors

Bats L

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'0"

Weight 215

DOB 1/16/1997

Born Wurzburg, Germany

College South Alabama

Drafted 7th Rd 2018 STL

Held out again Thursday

2BSt. Louis Cardinals

Toe

June 12, 2025

Donovan (toe) remains out of the lineup for Thursday's contest in Milwaukee.

ANALYSIS
He'll miss a second straight game after departing Tuesday's tilt versus the Blue Jays with a sprained capsule in the joint of his left big toe. The current expectation is that Donovan will be able to avoid a stint on the 10-day injured list, but he'll need to show improvement in the coming days. Nolan Gorman is getting another start at second base Thursday.

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Batting Stats

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2025

2024

2023

2022

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2024 MLB Game Log

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2023 MLB Game Log

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2022 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2023

+25%

OPS vs RHP

2025

+28%

OPS vs RHP

2024

+19%

OPS vs RHP

2023

+46%

OPS vs RHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023vs Left	.659	351	34	2	26	1	.251	.316	.343
Since 2023vs Right	.825	950	114	27	107	12	.300	.371	.453
2025vs Left	.692	94	11	2	9	0	.244	.309	.384
2025vs Right	.884	184	24	2	17	3	.346	.415	.469
2024vs Left	.671	194	18	0	16	1	.259	.314	.356
2024vs Right	.797	458	47	14	57	4	.286	.354	.443
2023vs Left	.570	63	5	0	1	0	.236	.333	.236
2023vs Right	.831	308	43	11	33	5	.294	.371	.460
More Splits→	View More Split Stats
Minor League Splits→	View Minor League Split Stats

Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2023

+2%

OPS at Home

2025

+18%

OPS on Road

2024

+8%

OPS at Home

2023

+7%

OPS at Home

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023Home	.788	658	74	15	72	8	.286	.355	.434
Since 2023Away	.771	643	74	14	61	5	.287	.358	.413
2025Home	.756	153	18	1	12	2	.294	.366	.390
2025Away	.895	125	17	3	14	1	.330	.395	.500
2024Home	.789	314	29	7	38	4	.288	.347	.442
2024Away	.731	338	36	7	35	1	.268	.337	.394
2023Home	.813	191	27	7	22	2	.275	.358	.455
2023Away	.760	180	21	4	12	3	.294	.372	.388
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Stat Review

How does Brendan Donovan compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.59

BB Rate

7.9%

K Rate

13.3%

BABIP

.351

ISO

.129

AVG

.310

OBP

.379

SLG

.440

OPS

.819

wOBA

.360

Exit Velocity

89.3 mph

Hard Hit Rate

30.5%

Barrels/PA

5.8%

Expected BA

.304

Expected SLG

.470

Sprint Speed

23.7 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

44.8%

Line Drive %

21.7%

Fly Ball %

33.5%

Prospect Rankings History

View Complete Brendan Donovan Prospect Ranking History

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

Games By Position

Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

Donovan worked last offseason on tweaking his setup at the plate, standing more upright while attempting to pull the ball in the air more often. It seemed to mostly work, as he upped his flyball rate from 23.6 percent to 30.3 percent and his pull rate from 35.5 percent to 41.3 percent. The result was Donovan more than doubling his home run total, but unfortunately he played only 95 games before needing season-ending flexor tendon surgery. The new, more aggressive approach meant fewer walks for Donovan, but because he remained elite at making contact and also hit the ball harder, he boasted an xBA in the 91st percentile. Donovan is expected to recover from elbow surgery in time for Opening Day and seems like a good bet to hit either first or second in the Cardinals' lineup.

Donovan made his big-league debut for the Cardinals in late April and had a solid rookie campaign with a .281/.394/.379 slash line in 126 games. He hit only five home runs with 45 RBI and 64 runs, and the lack of power is consistent from his time in the minors, where he topped out at 12 long balls in a single season. He showed impressive plate discipline, especially for a rookie, and had a 13.3 percent walk rate and 15 percent strikeout rate. Unless the Cardinals add a shortstop in free agency, Tommy Edman should work there in 2023, which should keep the keystone open for Donovan, who won a Gold Glove as a utility player last year. The young infielder played in at least seven games at six different positions, and his versatility should help him retain a regular spot in the lineup, especially if he can replicate his average and on-base figures.

More Fantasy News

Could avoid IL stint

2BSt. Louis Cardinals

Toe

June 11, 2025

Donovan told reporters Wednesday that an MRI revealed a sprained capsule in the joint of his left big toe, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

ANALYSIS
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Awaiting MRI results

2BSt. Louis Cardinals

Toe

June 11, 2025

The Cardinals are awaiting results of an MRI on Donovan's injured left big toe, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

ANALYSIS
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Sitting out Wednesday

2BSt. Louis Cardinals

Toe

June 11, 2025

Donovan (toe) is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.

ANALYSIS
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Exits with toe injury

2BSt. Louis Cardinals

Toe

June 10, 2025

Donovan was removed from Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays due to toe discomfort, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

ANALYSIS
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Homers in return to lineup

2BSt. Louis Cardinals

May 28, 2025

Donovan went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored in Wednesday's 6-4 win over the Orioles.

ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors

Leading NL in doubles

2BSt. Louis Cardinals

May 27, 2025

Donovan ranks first in the National League with 18 doubles and has a .328/.390/.463 slash line through 52 games this season.

ANALYSIS
According to John Denton of MLB.com, Donovan is excelling with the approach of taking the ball where it's pitched and not focusing on getting the ball in the air, with his 9.6-degree launch angle representing a drop of more than three degrees from 2024. The 28-year-old has career-high 42.5 percent hard-hit rate, .326 xBA and .508 xSLG this year, so the elite production certainly appears to be sustainable.

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