MLB

Mets’ Holt trying to get career pointed north

PORT ST. LUCIE — Brad Holt was selected by the Mets with the 33rd pick in the 2008 amateur draft, just 15 spots behind Ike Davis.

And though Davis, after a solid rookie season, appears set to stay at first base for the Mets, Holt’s future is less clear thanks in part to a horrid 2010.

That’s one of the reasons the 6-foot-4 right-hander showed up early to the Mets’ spring training complex to work with new manager Terry Collins.

“He was one of the first four guys here,” Collins said. “He’s got this huge label of having great, great stuff and, ‘What happened?’ He wants to show everybody it’s still there.”

It might not be easy for the 24-year-old who, after a promising start to his pro career, went 3-14 with an 8.34 ERA in stints with Double-A Binghamton and Single-A St. Lucie a year ago.

“We never could pinpoint what happened, what went wrong,” said Holt, who played at UNC-Wilmington. “I just took the offseason and put everything behind me.”

And he has begun to show signs that the worst may be over.

He had some success at the organization’s instructional league in Florida last year, as well as in the Arizona Fall League. And in the early going of this camp, he is confident that will continue.

“The control of my fastball is back and my off-speed stuff feels good,” Holt said. “I think I’m back on the right track.”

And rather than looking at 2010 as a wasted year, he is trying to reflect on it as a learning experience.

“It was probably the biggest struggle I’ve ever had in baseball,” Holt said. “I’ve had bad years before, but this was the first time I wasn’t hurt and didn’t have an answer for it. Hopefully, if something like that happens again, I’ll maybe get through it easier.”

He still has a long way to go, but he has a goal to reach before 2011 is over.

“I want to get to Citi Field at the end of the year,” Holt said. “I think there’s a good possibility of it if things go as planned.

“I know that sounds tough coming off the year I had, but I feel like this is a big year for me,” Holt said. “I don’t have anything to prove or feel pressure. I can’t work any harder. I just think it’s coming together for me.”

dan.martin@nypost.com