Castro plans to get Stanford degree in offseason

HOUSTON -- The baseball season is over, but Astros catcher Jason Castro still has some work ahead.

Castro will leave for San Francisco on Monday morning and will resume taking classes this week at Stanford University, where he's two classes shy of a degree in sociology. Castro plans to finish the degree this fall and finally get his diploma -- five years after the Astros drafted him in the first round.

"It's been a long time coming," Castro said. "I got to go back in 2010 and take some classes. I tried to get it all done in one shot, but the way it's kind of structured, I wasn't going to be able to get it all done at once. I broke it up into two parts and this is the second part. I'm excited to get it over with and finally be done."

Castro will be on campus at Stanford twice a week this fall. He's finished all the coursework required for his major, so he just has general elective units remaining.

"It shouldn't be too difficult," Castro said. "But I still have to get back into study mode."

And Castro plans to get into college life as much as he can. He's already got tickets for Stanford's football games against Oregon, California and Notre Dame.

Castro enjoyed a breakout season this year, hitting .276 in 120 games with 35 doubles, 18 homers and 56 RBIs with a .485 slugging percentage, setting career highs in nearly every offensive category. He was twice named American League Player of the Week and was the first Astros player to represent the AL in the All-Star game.