Giants' Pablo Sandoval to Undergo Season-Ending Surgery on Hamstring Injury

Pablo Sandoval's season has come to an early end. 

Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports reported on Thursday that the San Francisco Giants infielder will undergo hamstring surgery and miss the rest of the year. According to NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic, an MRI showed a "significant tear."

Per Nightengale, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy said that the injury will be "tough to overcome."

While the two-time All-Star isn't the player he was during his first stint in the Bay Area, he was still putting together a decent season. The 31-year-old was hitting .248/.310/.417 with nine home runs, 10 doubles and 40 RBI in 92 games.

Sandoval's bat has always been his top asset, but his versatility in the field has been crucial this season. He has played all around the infield in 2018, including third, second, first and even pitcher. 

The right-hander now owns a career 0.00 ERA.

That versatility earned high praise, as noted by The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly:

This is just the latest injury the Giants have had to deal with. Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija have each spent time on the disabled list, and two-time All-Star Johnny Cueto is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on Thursday. First baseman Brandon Belt (hyperextended right knee) is also currently on the DL.

If and when Belt returns, the team will be able to work around Sandoval's injury a little better. For now, though, the team will likely use either Buster Posey or Austin Slater (a .290 hitter in 63 career games) at first.

At 55-54, San Francisco is five games back in both the National League West and in the Wild Card race.