SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants All-Star second baseman Joe Panik insisted Friday that not only will he enter Spring Training fully recovered from lower back inflammation, but he'll also remain healthy through the season.
Panik, who missed most of the final two months of last season with his back woes, feels so fit that it's as if his injury never happened.
"I honestly feel I'm going to be normal," Panik said Friday at the Giants' media availability at AT&T Park preceding Saturday's FanFest. "I haven't had one issue."
Panik, 25, engineered much of his recovery at Pro Sports Physical Therapy in Scarsdale, N.Y., though he visited Scottsdale, Ariz., twice late last year to be scrutinized by members of the Giants' medical staff. He said that he began feeling "100 percent" between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
"It's to the point where I'm not even thinking about it," said Panik, who batted .312 with an .833 OPS in 100 games last year. Having put himself through full workouts since mid-December, Panik added, "The best thing about it is, the next day I don't feel any pain."