FORT LAUDERDALE – Luis Castillo started his personal reclamation project with a bang.
The beleaguered second baseman looked like the productive and dynamic leadoff hitter he used to be not too long ago, driving in four runs in the Mets’ 9-3 win over Baltimore in their Grapefruit League opener yesterday.
Ryan Church added three RBIs, but it was Castillo’s big day that took center stage for the Mets and Jerry Manuel.
Manuel is being roundly second-guessed for his plan to audition Castillo for the leadoff spot in place of Jose Reyes this spring, so Castillo’s eruption yesterday was a welcome sight for the manager.
“That was exactly what Luis needed,” Manuel said. “He needed to drive in some runs. Performing the way he performed today was what he needed to get off to a good start. That was very appropriate for us, very big for us. I was happy for him.”
As he did throughout the first week of camp, Castillo bore little resemblance to the gimpy-kneed boo magnet who limped through the worst year of his 13-year big league career.
Memories of that .245 disaster in just 87 games dimmed a little bit when the switch-hitting Castillo stepped to the plate in the second inning against Orioles righty Brad Hennessey and laced a bases-loaded single.
Castillo was picked off first on the play, but that quickly was forgiven two innings later when he drilled an opposite-field double to left off another righty, David Pauley, to drive in two more runs.
Castillo came around to score after the double and was lifted shortly afterward, sporting a wide grin the whole time. That was in sharp contrast to the sullen scowl he wore last season.
Funny what the absence of aching knees can do.
“Like I said, I’m healthy,” said Castillo, who dropped 17 pounds (down to 193) in the offseason. “I feel good. That’s the first day of the spring, and I have to keep on having a good spring training and see what happens in the season.”
Manuel, who is being forced by management to see if he can wring something out of Castillo with $18 million left on the player’s contract, likes the effort Castillo has given so far.
Manuel repeatedly has described the “life” in Castillo’s bat and step this spring, and yesterday was just a continuation of that.
“He’s been good, real good,” Manuel said. “Energy is a big thing with him that we have to keep impressing him, to be energetic regardless of what the outcome is. You’ve got to still go out there and show the life people like to see.”
A large contingent of Mets fans at wind-swept Fort Lauderdale Stadium seemed ready to jump on Castillo the way so many crowds did last year, both at home and on the road, but he ended up winning them over with his hustle and lively bat.
How much longer that lasts is anybody’s guess, but Castillo is determined to make his relentless offseason conditioning program in the Dominican Republic this winter pay off on the field this summer.
Yesterday was a tiny step in the right direction, or so the Mets hope.
“He’s worked hard, and good things are going to happen for him,” Manuel said.
bhubbuch@nypost.com