ATLANTA — Of all the jaw-dropping things to happen to the Mets this year, Luis Castillo not only staying healthy but also emerging as their MVP would have to rank near the top.
The embattled second baseman, who began the year as easily the No. 1 target of fan ire, knows his 2009 campaign will be forever remembered for his dropped pop-up at Yankee Stadium.
But that infamous nadir aside, Castillo has quietly put together a season so solid at the plate that Jerry Manuel is openly pushing for him to win the NL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award.
Castillo has a .309 average and a .400 on-base percentage. He went for 1-for-5 in last night’s 6-5 loss to the Braves.
Arguably even more impressive has been the gimpy-knee Castillo’s ability to remain off the disabled list. He and Daniel Murphy are the Mets’ only Opening Day starters not to spend time on the DL this year.
“He’s done extremely, extremely well,” Manuel said before the game. “He came into spring training on a mission. He has been in the middle — the wins and stuff that we’ve had, the rallies that have been started — he’s been right in the middle of most of them.”
Unfortunately for Castillo, there haven’t been many wins or late-inning rallies by the Mets, especially lately. They went into yesterday the victim of back-to-back shutouts and losers of seven of their previous eight games.
Castillo realizes all of the losses have overshadowed an impressive comeback that includes the 34-year-old leading the NL with a .357 home batting average. Not only that, but Castillo is hitting .413 (31-for-75) in his past 20 home games.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries, and it’s sometimes tough for people to see what you can do because the team isn’t winning,” Castillo said yesterday. “You get lost a little bit.”
At the same time, Castillo feels pride at dropping nearly 20 pounds in the offseason and then quieting the torrent of fan criticism that followed his disaster of a 2008 season, when he hit .245 while being limited to just 87 games.
Except for the Yankee Stadium nightmare, the fans at Citi Field seem to have been won over.
“It’s been satisfying for me, because last year was such a tough year for me,” Castillo said. “That’s what I wanted to do — have a good year and show the people and the fans that I can do better and be a better player.”
Castillo still has two years and $12 million left on his contract, which probably makes him unmovable in the offseason because of his age and lingering concerns about his knee.
Manuel, though, sounds as if he would welcome Castillo back.
“He’s obviously had some setbacks — the one at Yankee Stadium [especially] — and bounced right back,” Manuel said. “He’s had a good year, a very good year.”
bhubbuch@nypost.com