Sandoval rejoins Giants as Belt hits DL

The Kung Fu Panda is back in the Bay Area.

Ahead of Saturday's game at AT&T Park, the Giants added to their active roster third baseman Pablo Sandoval, the longtime fan favorite in San Francisco who signed a minor-league deal with his former club last month after being released by the Boston Red Sox.

Sandoval will replace Brandon Belt on the active roster. The 29-year-old first baseman took a pitch off his head in Friday's 2-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks and has been placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list.

Sandoval, a two-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion during his first stint with the Giants, will now look to get his career back on track in his old digs following a disastrous three-year run in Boston. The 30-year-old struggled hard in the first season of his five-year, $90-million deal, and barely played over the following two campaigns due to injury and poor performance, finishing with a meager .646 OPS in 161 games with the Red Sox from 2015 through 2017.

Before his career turned sour in Boston, though, Sandoval was considered among the better third basemen in the National League, as the colorful Venezuela native hit .294/.346/.465 (123 OPS+) from 2008 through 2014, averaging 15 homers and 27 doubles per season.