Castro still bothered by sore right knee

HOUSTON -- All-Star catcher Jason Castro appears to be at least a few days away from returning to action after having a cyst in his right knee drained Tuesday. Castro left Monday's game against the Twins with a sprained knee and hasn't played since.

"It feels a lot better today," Castro said Wednesday. "Once I start doing stuff … we'll see how it feels and progress from there. It feels a lot better this morning, as far as the soreness has gone down a lot. That was good to see, waking up."

Castro, who missed the entire 2011 season following surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, said he fouled a ball off his knee in the first inning Monday, which aggravated the cyst. When asked if he would be available to play this weekend in Oakland, Castro wasn't sure.

"It really depends on how it feels once we get back into hitting and running and doing all that kind of stuff," he said. "Squatting will be the next big test. I'm sure we'll kind of progress and ease into it, as far as not trying to push it too fast. If we don't wait long enough for the thing to calm down and start doing stuff on it, it could have the chance to act up again. I'm feeling pretty good about it based on how it's feeling this morning."

Astros manager Bo Porter said Castro would likely be in the lineup at designated hitter before he gets behind the plate.

"We're going to be very careful," Porter said. "With the number of games we have left, it's not worth risking this lingering into the offseason and now becoming an issue he has to deal with the whole offseason."

Castro, a two-time American League Player of the Week, is having a career season, hitting .282 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs. He's the latest in a string of catching injuries for the Astros.