Pablo Sandoval knows this could be goodbye.

He’s ready.

The beloved Giant will, at the least, be saying farewell to Bruce Bochy, for whom he will have his final at-bat sometime Sunday against the Padres at Oracle Park. Bochy is retiring. Sandoval insists he is not.

But he does not and cannot know how he’ll bounce back from Tommy John surgery, which is scheduled for this week. When the Giants go to St. Louis, Panda will be going to Los Angeles to prep to go under the knife, his right (throwing) elbow the problem.

A free agent at season’s end, he may not play another game for the Giants. A 33-year-old coming off major surgery entering an uncertain market, he may not play another game in the majors.

“It’s going to be special,” Sandoval said before the Giants were expected to use him one last time (this season, at least) as a pinch-hitter. “It’s for my teammates. The team gave me an opportunity to be here the first time. They opened the door again. Play one more time before surgery for them. This means a lot, one more time for Bochy and his farewell tour.”

Sandoval, a bit emotional, called Bochy his “second dad,” a Hall of Famer he’s spent nine seasons with, interrupted by that failed Boston stint. Bochy had speculated earlier this week perhaps Sandoval could take more than the single at-bat. Sandoval can’t.

He said he’s in pain daily. He wore a protective sleeve on the elbow and has regularly had large heaps of ice on it.

“I’m not a crybaby. I know how to deal with pain,” said Sandoval, who has had bone chips in the elbow since 2013. “But this one is different.”

He was trying to look narrowly, to hone in on the at-bat and then figure out the rest. But he also admitted that while it will be his last at-bat for this manager, he would like to take more for the next San Francisco skipper.

“I love this city. It’s given a lot of things to me and my family. A lot of great memories,” Sandoval said. “I hope it’s not ending right here.”

The moment will be special for Bochy, too.

“It will be some good memories going through my head on that one,” said Bochy, who added he’s begun to contemplate what Sandoval means to him. “… I’m sure we’ll have a hug after the game.”