SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants second baseman Joe Panik said Sunday he's experienced headaches -- but not vision issues -- during his current stint on the seven-day concussion disabled list.
It's a positive sign for Panik and the Giants; vision symptoms were part of his 2016 concussion. Panik has improved each day. He had a slight headache Friday but he felt fine Saturday and Sunday, when he returned to a few baseball activities -- 25 swings off a tee, 25 swings of soft toss and throws of 90 feet.
He will repeat his Sunday regimen on Monday.
"Getting on the field, that's the next step," Panik said.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Panik, so long as he continues moving forward without setbacks, should beat teammate Brandon Belt (concussion) back to the 25-man roster.
But Bochy doesn't expect Panik to return during the homestand: "I would be really, really surprised. I don't see that happening."
Panik has figuratively passed Belt, who was struck on the head by a pitch earlier this month.
"The best I can say to describe it is, he's doing OK," Bochy said of Belt. "We'll continue doing some cardio to the spot where he needs to stop. But he's not at stage where we can push it a little bit right now. There's still some symptoms there."
Panik was hit near the temple while scoring during the Giants' game against the Nationals on Aug. 13. After a scheduled day off, his symptoms "progressively got worse." So he headed to the DL.
Panik and Belt have encouraged each other through their August concussions.
"It's staying positive," Panik said. "You're going to have your good days and bad days. Just hope that you wake up and you're feeling better than the day before."
• A day after Denard Span's inside-the-park home run, Bochy joked that Span wouldn't have been the only Giants player capable of scoring, given the carom.
"Really, that ball, Pablo [Sandoval] probably would have had an inside-the-parker," Bochy said. "Pablo did say, if that would have been him, I would have had to take him out of the game."