Remember on Wednesday, when we took a look at how the Brendan Donovan acquisition by the Seattle Mariners impacted the rest of the roster heading into spring training and Opening Day? Well, within that piece we raised a question about how the final bench spot would be used.

If you recall:

"Allow us to work with the following hypotheticals. Let's say the Mariners are playing a right-handed pitcher.

C: Cal Raleigh

1B: Josh Naylor

2B: Cole Young

SS: J.P. Crawford

3B: Brendan Donovan

LF: Randy Arozarena

CF: Julio Rodriguez

RF: Luke Raley

DH: Dominic Canzone

The Mariners will have four bench spots available, meaning:

Bench 1: Victor Robles

Bench 2: Rob Refsnyder

Bench 3: Andrew Knizner (backup catcher)

Bench 4: Open

Well, it seems like we got an answer to "who gets bench spot four?" on Thursday in a piece by Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.

Within that piece, Kramer outlined a potentially significant role for Leo Rivas. Since Rivas is not on our list up top, he would get that fourth bench spot, presuming everyone is healthy.

The Mariners want to allow room for second baseman Cole Young to play and grow, but they also want to protect him where they can. That includes not playing him against tough lefties, where Rivas's switch-hitting ability comes into play. Kramer identifies Rivas as a platoon partner for Young at second, and potentially with Colt Emerson when he debuts in the big leagues. His ability to switch-hit and play shortstop (and presumably third) and run well is what separates him from guys like Ryan Bliss (who doesn't play third or short) and Miles Mastrobuoni (who is left-handed).

A 28-year-old native of Venezuela, Rivas is a two-year veteran of the Mariners. He's appeared in 91 games the last two seasons, hitting .239 with two homers and 17 RBIs. He's also stolen nine bases and plays very solid defense wherever he's asked to play.

He hit .306 in 36 at-bats against lefties in the 2025 regular season and also delivered a critical game-tying hit in Game 5 of the American League Division Series with the Mariners down 2-1 in the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers.

The Mariners will report to spring training next week with the first Cactus League game set for Feb. 20. Mariners Roundtable will have a presence for two weeks at spring training, so stay tuned for live coverage from Peoria, Ariz.

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!