Reddick healing at fast pace from staph infection

HOUSTON -- Josh Reddick's return to the Astros' outfield from the disabled list is becoming more probable with each passing day.
Reddick, who began baseball activities this week at Minute Maid Park, spoke about the staph infection that's sidelined him for 10 games and for the remaining three games of a series against the Red Sox. The Astros' 31-year-old right fielder hit the disabled list on May 23 and did not travel to Cleveland or New York for the club's road trip.
In an effort to subdue the infection, Reddick began his rehab by riding a stationary bike for 15 minutes at a time at Minute Maid Park and has now advanced to taking batting practice and an incremental running program, including running the bases on Friday.
"I'm feeling great," Reddick said. "The incision is almost closed up fully, so I'm trying to increase baseball activity as much as possible and get back into baseball shape. I'm healing a little bit faster than we expected, so that's a good sign."
Reddick's infection, which he says has featured plenty of pain, required some invasive work to become sterilized.
Gauze and tweezers were shoved into the infected limb, he said Friday, his first time speaking about the ailment since the Astros returned from their seven-game road trip.
"We never found out exactly what caused it," Reddick said, "but it did turn into a staph infection. So that was the big key ... keeping me off the field and keeping me away from these guys. Obviously you don't want to do that to anybody else in here.
"Definitely a lot of pain involved with stuffing and packing the incision with some gauze. Probably the worst part of it, just dealing with having some tweezers with some gauze stuck in your leg."
Reddick will continue hitting and running throughout what's planned to be a short rehab. Although the Astros are unsure of the specifics, Reddick may need a rehab assignment for some at-bats before returning to the big league field. Until then, he'll continue swinging, running and "pushing it a little more each day," he said.
"It is a good sign," Astros manager AJ Hinch said. "And just the next step in a long process to get him back. We hope that we can speed that up and get to potentially a rehab assignment, if that's what needed, and then we'll go the next step. We'll see how he feels tomorrow and continue to move forward."