SAN FRANCISCO -- It was somewhat of a shock last month when the Giants brought Pablo Sandoval back on a minor league deal, but the longtime fan favorite may not be done with the surprises.
President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said Sandoval has begun throwing and is so far ahead of schedule in his rehab from Tommy John surgery that he could get some at-bats during spring training. Sandoval won't be ready defensively before Opening Day, but he's still way ahead of schedule.
"Right now we're targeting him being 100 percent hitting and defensively maybe about a month or so into the season," Zaidi said, "But that certainly can be accelerated."
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Sandoval had his right UCL repaired and bone chips removed from his elbow on Sept. 4. The expectation at that time was that he would miss at least the first half of the 2020 season, but Sandoval -- a sneaky-good athlete who can throw with both arms and hit from both sides of the plate -- has proven to be a remarkably quick healer.
Sandoval will make $2 million if he makes the roster with another $750,000 available in incentives.
Zaidi met with beat reporters a day before the rest of the team descends on Oracle Park for FanFest and said the health outlook for the roster is positive. Steven Duggar and Trevor Gott, both of whom had season-ending injuries last year, will both be 100 percent for the start of camp. Reyes Moronta remains on schedule to be back around August after a shoulder injury.
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Even Tyler Anderson, who was picked up on a waiver claim in November, is ahead of schedule. When the Giants got the left-handed starter from the Rockies they thought he was an obvious 60-day Injured List candidate as he came back from major knee surgery. They anticipated he would be back around midseason. But Anderson is recovering well and could get into games by the end of the spring. He still would not be an Opening Day rotation option.