Why Mariners called up ex-Guardians infielder instead of Colt Emerson to replace Brendan Donovan originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The Seattle Mariners had to make a flurry of moves on Monday. First, second baseman Brendan Donovan was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left groin muscle strain.
In a corresponding move, utility man Miles Mastrobuoni was transferred to the 60-day IL. Mariners fans would have assumed that top prospect Colt Emerson would have received the call to the Majors when Donovan hit the injured list. That wasn't the case.
Instead, Seattle promoted Will Wilson, a 27-year-old infielder who can play second and third base. Wilson appeared in 34 games with the Cleveland Guardians in 2025 and hit .192/.267/.244 with no home runs and a .511 OPS in 91 trips to the plate. "Emerson is battling wrist soreness in Triple-A, manager Dan Wilson told reporters (including Adam Jude of The Seattle Times)," Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors wrote Monday.More: Braves predicted to trade Bryce Elder for Lars Nootbaar"There’s no indication the team is concerned about the issue, but that played a role in their decision not to promote him yet.
The M’s also don’t anticipate Donovan missing much time, so it made more sense to tab Will Wilson if they’re only looking for a short-term utility stopgap." Emerson will have to wait for another opportunity to make his MLB debut. He's hitting .258/.361/.452 with two homers and six stolen bases in eight attempts at Triple-A Tacoma. More MLB news:Jacob DeGrom is only 149 strikeouts from 2,000 for his careerThree ways Pirates' Paul Skenes could lose NL Cy Young AwardMets didn’t want to trade Brett Baty while White Sox didn’t want Mark Vientos in Luis Robert Jr. tradeRed Sox never close on Astros’ Isaac Paredes tradeShohei Ohtani deemed more valuable than Aaron Judge in recent ESPN discussion piece