Brendan Donovan targeting return before season's end after concussion

Brendan Donovan is recovering from a concussion and has set his sights on returning to the Cardinals before the regular season closes, MLB.com's Daniel Kramer reported.

What happened

Per Kramer's reporting, Donovan detailed his recovery process and expressed a goal of getting back on the field before the season ends. No specific return date was reported, and no official activation has been announced. The concussion protocol — which in general league terms involves a dedicated seven-day injured list and a structured clearance process — means the timeline remains contingent on how that progression unfolds, not on a calendar target alone.

Why it matters

The Cardinals are in a stretch of the season where every healthy body carries weight, and Donovan is not a peripheral piece. He is a versatile infielder who can occupy multiple spots on a roster that has been reshuffled with some regularity over the past week. His absence creates a gap that depth moves can fill in the short term, but his return — if it comes — would restore a more settled look to a lineup that has been doing some creative accounting lately.

The broader injury picture in St. Louis adds context here. A week removed from the news that pitcher Hunter Dobbins underwent Tommy John surgery — ending his 2026 season and projecting a roughly 12-month recovery — the Cardinals are navigating a roster that has absorbed a meaningful blow to its pitching depth. Donovan's situation is different in kind and, by his own account, in expected duration, but it is another variable the organization is managing as September deepens.

The numbers

The Cardinals enter Tuesday sitting at 72-73 (.497), third in the NL Central and 17 games back of the division lead. Their Wild Card position is ranked 6th, sitting 5.0 relative to the cut line. They are currently on a one-game losing streak.

Those numbers frame the stakes of Donovan's potential return honestly. At 72-73, St. Louis is not in a position where a single roster addition reshapes the postseason math in any dramatic way — the Wild Card gap is real and the division is out of reach. But September baseball has its own logic, and a player targeting a return before the final out is a player who believes there is something left to play for. The desk will not argue with that instinct.

Where the club stands

The Cardinals head to Oracle Park to face the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday, with Quinn Mathews projected as the St. Louis starter against Landen Roupp. Wednesday's probable pitcher for St. Louis has not been reported. The club returns home to Busch Stadium on Friday to host the Chicago White Sox.

That upcoming schedule — a road trip to San Francisco followed by a home series — gives some shape to the window Donovan is presumably targeting. Whether he is available for any of those games has not been reported.

The roster has seen considerable movement in recent days. Leo Bernal made his major league debut against the Dodgers earlier this month. Cooper Hjerpe was recalled from Triple-A Memphis for his own MLB debut against the Rockies, with Hancel Rincón optioned back to Memphis to make room — Rincón having made his own debut just days prior, in a game that generated more off-field conversation than most. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was ejected defending Rincón during that debut, and the episode involving umpire Doug Eddings ordering Rincón to straighten his cap prompted a player protest and, subsequently, an apology from the umpire. September in St. Louis has not lacked for storylines.

Ivan Herrera's late three-run homer rescued the Cardinals in a win over the Rockies earlier in the week, with a roster move — Fernandez optioned to make room for Pallante's return — accompanying that game. The expanded September roster, which under general league rules allows clubs to carry 28 players through the end of the regular season, gives St. Louis some flexibility to manage its active group while Donovan works through the protocol.

What we don't know yet

No timetable for Donovan's return has been reported. His stated goal is to play before the season ends, but the concussion protocol does not operate on wishes — it operates on clearance steps, and where he stands in that process was not detailed in Kramer's reporting. Whether he will require a rehab assignment before any activation, and how much time remains on his injured list stint, are also open questions.

What to watch

The most direct thing to monitor is any roster move that signals Donovan has cleared the protocol and is approaching a return. In general terms, a position player on the concussion IL must complete the league's return-to-play process before being activated, and a rehab assignment — available for up to 20 days for position players — is one possible step along that path, though it is not required.

Beyond Donovan specifically, the Cardinals' final weeks will test how well the organization has managed its depth through a September that has already introduced several new faces and absorbed at least one significant injury. At 72-73 and 5.0 games outside the Wild Card cut line, the standings do not invite optimism about October. But Donovan's aim to return before the curtain falls says something about the competitor's instinct that tends to outlast the math — and the desk, for its part, will be watching the transaction wire.