It's official: Star Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval has a broken hamate bone in his right hand. The Giants have only two batters with an OPS over .800, and Sandoval was the only one with an OPS over .830, so of all the position players to get hurt, Sandoval could easily be the roughest on the team.

Sandoval will have surgery this Tuesday in Arizona to remove the bone. The official approximate timetable says that Sandoval will be back in action in 4-6 weeks.

If there's a bright side, it's that Sandoval is committed to using this time off to keep getting in better shape. Despite the hand injury, he's already working out.

But the real concern is the completeness of his recovery upon his return to the lineup. Very often, players who fracture their hamate bones swing with discomfort even after they're back, so the Giants can only hope that Sandoval's able to pick up where he left off several weeks down the road.

In the interim, Miguel Tejada is likely to take over at third base, since his defense at shortstop has been adequate at best.