Was born in Wurzburg, Germany, when his father James (Jim), a former United States Army Combat Readiness Center (USACRC) Deputy Commander, was stationed overseas...Selected to the 28-player roster for Germany in the 2021 World Baseball Classic before it was canceled...Played baseball at Enterprise (Ala.) High School, lettering all four years while lettering two years in football...Played collegiate baseball at South Alabama (2016-18), the same school as 2011 St. Louis Cardinals World Series MVP David Freese. Earned 2017 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player, batting .438 with a tournament-clinching walk-off single in the 10th inning to give the Jaguars their first conference title since 2005 when David Freese was a member of the squad...Listed Matt Carpenter as his favorite athlete in his college bio...Played for the Hyannis Mets in the 2017 Cape Cod League...Proposed to his wife, Aly, in New York City's Times Square in May 2022 as the Cardinals game vs. the Mets at Citi Field was postponed due to rain...Volunteers at Jupiter's Loggerhead Marinelife Center and is a member of the Gordon Gray Circle of 100, who are contributors that support the JID's conservation and environmental initiatives...Signed by Clint Brown...Resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. with his wife, Aly, and daughter, Viviane (March 15, 2024).
2024
NL Ranks: Hits (163, T-8th), PA/Strikeout (8.05, 4th), Line Drives (137, T-2nd), Line Drive Pct. (27.0, 10th), Multi-Hit Games (45, T-9th), Three-Hit Games (14, T-5th), Singles (112, 6th), Whiff Pct. (15.1, 6th), Strikeout Pct. (12.4, 4th), Pct. Swings Squared Up (35.2, 4th), Pct. Swings In Play (46.5, 8th), Pct. Pitches Put In Play (20.5, 8th), Pct. Swings That Missed (15.1, 6th)...Became the first left-handed batter to lead St. Louis in hits since Jason Heyward (160 in 2015), while his 163 hits were most by a Cardinals left-handed batter since team-leader Matt Carpenter (162 in 2014)...His 163 hits ranked seventh among MLB left-handed batters, while his 45 hits off left-handed pitchers tied Masyn Winn for the team lead...Led St. Louis in hits, doubles, batting average (.278), on-base pct. (.342), hit by pitches (13) and line drives (137)...Nominated for the Cardinals Heart and Hustle Award from MLBPAA, and the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award, a recognition reserved for MLB players who demonstrate service, commitment and support of military servicemen and women...Hit a career-high 14 home runs, all off right-handed pitchers...Established single-season career highs in games played (153), hits (163), runs scored (65), doubles (34), triples (3), homers (14), RBI (73), total bases (245) and extra-base hits (51)...His 51 extra-base hits topped his combined totals from the 2022 (27) and 2023 (22) seasons...The Cardinals were 29-16 (.651 win percentage) in his 45 multi-hit games (T-9th in NL)...His team-leading 14 three-hit games were most by a left-handed-hitting Cardinal since Matt Carpenter (18 in 2013)...Enterprise, Alabama native had 3/4 of the Cycle (HR, 2B, 1B) on June 20 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, while becoming the first-ever Alabamian to play in a MLB regular season game in the state of Alabama...Batted .324 (60-for-185) with two outs, second-best in MLB to Luis Arraez (.339)...Reached base safely in a career-high 21 straight games from June 16-July 8...Batted .360 (32-89) in his final 24 games after Sept. 1, third-best in MLB to end the season...Committed just two errors despite splitting time between left field (105 games), second base (53g), third base (9g) and right field (1g)...Recorded a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 167 total chances in the outfield, while ranked T-seventh among NL second basemen in Outs Above Average (5)...Donovan (105 in LF & 53 at 2B) & Toronto’s Davis Schneider (93 in LF & 56 at 2B) were the only two MLB players to play 50+ games at both second base and the outfield during the 2024 season...Among Cardinals all-time, Donovan joined 1999 Joe McEwing (66 in OF & 96 at 2B) and 2009 Skip Schumaker (54 in OF & 133 at 2B) to do so...His 91 starts in left field were his most of any position in a single season of his MLB career.
2023
Played in 93 games before an elbow injury cut his season short and required surgery...Was placed on the 10-day injured list (8/1) and transferred to the 60-day injured list (9/1)...Underwent a right elbow UCL repair with internal brace, performed by Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas in Aug. 2023...Started games at six different positions (2B-30, LF-14, 1B-10, RF-7, 3B-3, SS-1) for the second straight season...Of Cardinals with 370 or more PA, led the team in batting (.284) and runs created/27 outs (5.85); 2nd in OBP (.422)...Was 3-for-6 with three RBI and a home run on Opening Day vs. TOR (3/30)...Was the fifth Cardinals lead-off hitter with an Opening Day HR and first since Willie McGee at NYM in 1996; first at home since Lou Brock vs. SF in 1967 at Busch Stadium II...Became the sixth Cardinal with three hits, three RBI and a HR on Opening Day, first since Pujols in 2010...Slammed his first career lead-off home run vs. TOR (4/2), hitting the first pitch off Chris Bassitt...Hit a career-high 11 home runs, all against right-handed pitchers, 9-of-11 with the Cardinals tied or trailing...Went a career-high 19 games without an RBI (April 4-29)...His final 16 games started were all as the designated hitter...Came off the bench as a pinch-runner once and pinch-hitter three times...Made an emergency appearance at first base at MIA (7/4) as the Cardinals removed the DH by using position player Alec Burleson to finish the game as pitcher...Scored both runs in a 2-1 win vs. CLE (5/27), hitting a solo home run in the second inning and scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning after stealing third base and scoring on a passed ball...Became the fourth Cardinal to steal third base since the new extra innings automatic runner rule was put in place in 2020 and the first not a part of a double steal...Led the Cardinals with 27 hits in the month of June (27-88, .307) and reached base safely in 23 of 25 games played...Ran off a season-high 10-game hitting streak (6/11-21)...Collected two RBI vs. CHI (6/25) in London, leading the Cardinals for the most RBI in an overseas game...Started Saturday at second base and Sunday in left field...Hit his second career triple vs. WSH (7/15) off Jake Irvin, the fourth Cardinals designated hitter in franchise history to hit a triple...Reached base safely in 42-of-51 games in the lead-off position...Batted .300 (65-217) from the No. 1 position in the lineup, seventh in MLB (Arraez, MIA, .372)...Was 10th-toughest batter to strike out in the National League (7.00 PA/K), highest mark by a Cardinals lefthanded batter (non-switch hitter) since Matt Carpenter (7.32 PA/K) in 2013.
2022
Hits (110, second), runs (64, second), walks (60, first), doubles (21, third), RBI, (45, sixth), batting average (.281, fifth), on-base pct. (.394, first), times on base (184, first), total bases (148, sixth), hit by pitches (14, first), bWAR (4.1, second)...Finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year award voting behind Braves teammates Michael Harris II and Spencer Strider...Recognized at second base on the Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and Baseball Digest All-Rookie Teams, and was a finalist for the NL Outstanding Rookie in the MLBPA Players Choice Awards...Recipient of the inaugural Rawlings National League Utility Gold Glove Award. Became the first Cardinals rookie to win a Gold Glove and the first National League rookie to do so since Nolan Arenado with Colorado in 2013. ..Became the only MLB player in the modern era (since 1900) to start at four different infield positions in the first four starts of a career...Played every infield position and both corner outfield spots, appearing defensively at second base (264.1 innings), third base (189.0), right field (143.0), left field (144.0), first base (58.0)and shortstop (56.0). ..Is one of three rookies in MLB history (since 1900) to make 6+ starts at 6+ different positions (1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, RF) in a single season, joining 2014 Red Sox Brock Holt (seven) and 2018 Tiger Niko Goodrum (six). ..Committed just seven errors across 854.1 total innings, with 49 double plays, four outfield assists and a combined .982 fielding percentage...Accumulated nine Defensive Runs Saved, including eight at third base (T6th-among all MLB players)...Made starts in at least 16 games apiece at second base (32), third base (21), right field (16) and left field (16)...Also appeared in 16 games at DH (.270/.386/.324)...Played in 126 games overall, fifth-most on the Cardinals and most by a Cardinals rookie infielder since Pete Kozma (143 games in 2013). ..Drew 60 walks, most by a Cardinals rookie since Albert Pujols (69 walks in 2001)...Among MLB batters with 450+ plate appearances, ranked 7th in on-base percentage (.394), 8th in walks/strikeout ratio (0.86), and 14th in walk percentage (12.8) and pitches per plate appearance (4.18)...His .394 on-base percentage ranked 3rd all-time among Cardinals rookies behind Albert Pujols (.403 in 2001) & Stan Musial (.397 in 1942). Would have ranked 5th in the National League in OBP, but did not qualify...Among Major Leaguers with 90+ plate appearances with runners in scoring position, ranked 4th in OBP (.474) and 8th in batting average (.347), both team highs...Reached base safely in 99 of his 126 games played...Had success at Busch Stadium, batting .330/.439/.457 (62- 188) with a .896 OPS in 66 home games...Was hit by pitch 14 times, leading MLB rookies and most since Edmundo Sosa set the Cardinals record (17 in 2021)...Posted a .421 OBP vs. left-handed pitchers; seventh highest in MLB (min. 75 PA); second highest by a Cardinals left-handed batter behind Keith Hernandez (.456 OBP in 1980). ..Ran the count full (3-2) in 85 plate appearances, 5th among MLB rookies and 3rd-most by a Cardinals rookie (Carlson 110, Pujols 102) since 1988...Recalled from Memphis (AAA) on 4/25. Made his MLB debut that night vs. the Mets as a pinch runner, scoring from second base on a Tyler O’Neill two-run single...Hit first career grand slam at San Diego (9/22) for his 100th career hit; also was a game-winning-RBI. .Had 12-game hit streak from Aug. 17-30, longest by a Cardinals rookie since Stephen Piscotty (12 in 2015).
2021
Played at three levels during the season, finishing the year at Memphis (AAA), playing in 108 games total... Played six different positions starting 103 games with 29 at third base, 27 at second base, 19 at first base, 16 in left field, 10 at shortstop and two in right field... Batted combined .304 with 12 HR and 66 RBI with 19 stolen bases in 27 attempts and a .399 on-base percentage... Ran off a 24-game on-base streak at Memphis (8/26-9/24), the longest by a member of the Redbirds during the season with a .464 OBP during the stretch... Ranked among Cardinals minor league leaders in batting (.304, 5th), on-base percentage (.399, 6th), OPS (.854, 7th), runs (73, 2nd), hits (119, 3rd), doubles (21, T-8th), RBI (66, 5th), total bases (178, T-6th), stolen bases (19, 3rd), walks (50, 6th), hit by pitch (14, 4th) and sacrifice flies (4, T-4th)... Named AAA East Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 6-12), batting .474 (9-19) with 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 SB and 8 runs... Hit his second career grand slam coming at Wisconsin (6/3), a two-out shot to give Peoria a 7-6 lead after trailing 6-2 entering the inning... Played for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League where he appeared at five different positions (1B, 2B, 3B, SS, RF).
2021 POSTSEASON: Traveled with the Cardinals to Los Angeles as a member of the Taxi Squad for the 2021 Wild Card Game but was not on the official roster.
