Castro taking things slow with right knee

SEATTLE -- All-Star catcher Jason Castro was held out of any baseball-related drills once again Wednesday as he gives his ailing right knee more time to heal. Castro said he most likely came back too soon after having a cyst drained in his knee last week.

Castro, who aggravated a cyst Sept. 1, has not caught since, though he did start at designated hitter Friday and Saturday in Oakland. Wednesday marked his fourth consecutive game out of the lineup.

"We're going to give it four to five days to completely let it rest and calm down, and we're going to start introducing things and re-evaluating it at that point," said Castro, who is hitting .276 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs.

Castro said he would not categorize what he was going through as a setback.

"I felt OK the first day [Friday], and then it was kind of a little bit sore the second day [Saturday]," he said. "I don't think it was ready to get back into it as soon as we started. We just kind of backed off and let it completely calm down, and we'll get back at it instead of trying to push it."

Meanwhile, starting left fielder Robbie Grossman missed his eighth consecutive game Wednesday because of a strained right oblique. Grossman has yet to even start swinging a bat, so he is not expected to return any time soon.