"Pablo Sandoval stood in the right-handed batter's box area Monday while Barry Zito threw off a bullpen mound, and the free-swinging Kung Fu Panda exercised self-control. He didn't take any whacks.

It'll be two more weeks before Sandoval is cleared to begin swinging. For now, he was happy to rejoin his teammates at Coors Field on Monday. And he took pleasure in feeling a bat in his hands for the first time since May 3 surgery to remove a fractured hamate bone in his right hand.

He expects to be activated in roughly a month, and he expects to swing with some discomfort -- especially from the left side, where the knob of his bat will rest on scar tissue from his surgery.

"It's going perfect," said Sandoval, who ran the bases and took ground balls with gusto -- under-handing the ball back to coach Tim Flannery -- and also dripped sweat while running stairs.

That was after he arrived at the ballpark. Giants trainer Dave Groeschner said when he walked in the hotel gym at 9:30 a.m., Sandoval already had gotten started.

Sandoval is taking pleasure in all aspects of his recovery, including public relations. He laughed when asked about Tweeting a graphic, surgery-in-progress photo of his bloody hand along with the bone chunk as doctors removed it.

"We have great fans and I want to say thank you," Sandoval said."