Where Have You Gone, Kung Fu Panda?

Pablo Sandoval hasn't been very good lately. Panda-ish? Yes. Kung Fu-ish? Not so much.

San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy even resorted to benching his third baseman in favor of Mike Fontenot for the final two NLDS games in Atlanta against the Braves after he went 1-for-6 with two strikeouts in the first two contests.

Sure, everyone has their ups and downs, but Sandoval batted just .207 in the month of September. What's even more troubing is the discrepancy between his home and away lines. At AT&T Park, there's not many guys you'd want in the lineup other than Panda Bear: .330/.382/.520. On the road, however, he's down to .208/.266/.299. This is not a good sign as the Philadelphia Phillies have home field advantage in the NLCS.

The Giants tried at one point to sit Sandoval toward the end of the regular season, starting Juan Uribe at third and Edgar Renteria at shortstop. Unfortunately for Renteria, he was injured, which forced Sandoval back into the lineup. He then polished off the regular season with one hit in each of his final five starts.

Can you imagine a deep postseason Giants series without him? Me neither. But if Kung Fu Panda doesn't reemerge sooner rather than later, we might be seeing more of Fontenot and less of Sandoval. However, Bochy had this to say regarding his playoff future:

Even though he didn't play the last two games we know this guy's a good hitter. We'll decide which way we're going to go once we get to Philly and decide on the lineup.

The series begins this Saturday in Philadelphia at 7:30pm ET on FOX. That's plenty of time for Sandoval to locate a slumpbuster.

In other Giants news: Big Time Timmy Jim has a blister.

Also, if you happen to give a crap what Barry Bonds has to say these days, check out this video clip at TMZ.