JUPITER, Fl. (KMOX) - Cardinals utility player Brendan Donovan is entering his third full season of Major League Baseball and has now started to become a veteran in the league.
2024 will be Donovan's third year in the league and while injuries cut his sophomore season short, Donovan feels more comfortable and has begun to develop more veteran habits in his third campaign in the majors.
Donovan credits Paul Goldschmidt, who notably isn't on social media and lives in Florida alongside Donovan, for helping him learn and develop veteran habits.
"He has been a big mentor to me. We train together in the last two offseason and I've had the luxury of seeing how he handles his business and I think that has been very educational," said Donovan to KMOX Sports Director Tom Ackerman. "He always early, he's the same person every day: very eager to work, always asking questions, curiously getting better and trying to keep up with him in the weight room is tough. He's a machine."
Some habits Donovan tries to include in his routines includes a constant tough task of just putting his smartphone away.
"You have access to everything, but putting it away for 5-10 minutes, or for me 20 minutes I try to lay down or shorter, it's just time where I can be with myself." said Donovan. "Just me and my thoughts, game-planning, mentally what I want to do for that day, just trying to stay away from the screen time as much as possible."
Talking with Ackerman, Donovan also discussed his recovery from season-ending elbow surgery, with Donovan expressing no concerns with it.
"For me, I know it's good because I'm not thinking about it," said Donovan. "Nothing pops in my head when I'm diving for a ball or letting one go for a relay. For me that shows we did the rehab and I'm in good spot."
Donovan's recovery will certainly be a added bonus to the Cardinals. With the Cardinals outfield situation in flux due to injuries with Tommy Edman and Lars Nootbar, along with the constant concerns with the back of second baseman Nolan Gorman, Donovan's versatility and presence on the field will be needed more than ever this season as the 2024 regular season is al little over two weeks away.