MIAMI -- Despite persistent rumors of possibly being shut down for the season, Mets catcher Mike Piazza is taking a more positive approach to things.

Piazza was put on the 15-day disabled list on Aug. 17 with a hairline fracture in his left hand, but he is optimistic about returning this season without a set timetable.

"I'm feeling a lot better," said Piazza, who turned 37 on Sunday. "I'm going to try to do some light catching [Monday], and hopefully, it'll all go well and we'll take it from there."

Though there was more of a dim forecast last week on expectations of a return this season, Piazza isn't nearly ready to throw in the towel.

"This week, I'm a lot more optimistic," he said. "If you would have asked me when we were in San Francisco [last week], I would've said there's no way I could play."

This season, the right-handed power hitter is batting .259 with 14 home runs and 55 RBIs. In his absence, Ramon Castro has filled in admirably behind the plate, and he has contributed three home runs and 14 RBIs over 14 games since Piazza was placed on the DL.

Manager Willie Randolph is delighted to hear his slugger is progressing well.

"I hope so," Randolph said. "That's encouraging. That's good. We can use him."

With the injury coming at a time when the Mets are pushing for a playoff spot, Piazza isn't going to rush back to the lineup prematurely unless he feels ready enough to help his team.

"It is what it is," Piazza said. "You have to realize what you have, and get back as soon as possible and be ready to contribute."

Graves update: Reliever Danny Graves, who was designated for assignment on Aug. 23 and cleared waivers on Friday, will be eligible to rejoin the Mets on Monday, and he is expected to be called up from Triple-A Norfolk.

"He'll be here in a couple days -- it might even be tomorrow," Randolph said. "There's nothing in his contract about it. We just told him we wanted him back. We want him to come back and help us."

On the season, Graves is 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA and 10 saves. The Mets acquired him on June 11 after the Reds released him on June 2.

A Labor Day laugher: It's hard to forget how the Mets came to beat the Phillies on Labor Day, 2001. They scored five runs in the ninth inning to win, 10-7, at Veterans Stadium. The Mets trailed, 7-5, after eight innings. The go-ahead run, in the person of Todd Zeile, scored from third base with Robin Ventura batting. Phillies pitcher Jose Santiago -- yes, the same Jose Santiago who pitched for the Mets that season -- snapped at, but didn't catch a normal throw back to the mound from catcher Todd Pratt. Zeile broke for home as the ball bounced away and put the Mets up, 8-7. C.J. Nitkowski gained his lone victory with the Mets in that Labor Day game.

Mets history for Sept. 5: The Mets and Phillies played a throwback game at Shea on this date in 1969. Tom Seaver struck out his last two batters in a five-hitter, a 5-1 Mets victory completed in one hour and 52 minutes. The victory, Seaver's fifth straight, made him the first Mets pitcher to win 20 games. Seaver's record, 20-7 at the time, reached its final 25-7 in five more starts. ... Six years later, Jerry Grote equaled the modern Major League record by reaching base on errors three times during the Mets' 5-2 victory over the Cardinals at Shea. Grote went hitless in his four at-bats and didn't score a run. Rookie Mike Vail, in the midst of his 23-game hitting streak, had two hits and three RBIs, and Dave Kingman became the second Met to hit 30 home runs in a season. Frank Thomas was the first, in 1962.

In 1988, Mookie Wilson hit a three-run home run off Don Robinson and drove in four runs in the Mets' 7-5 victory over the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium. David Cone, en route to the fist of his two 20-victory seasons -- both with New York teams -- raised his record to 15-3. He would not lose again until the playoffs. The Mets, 12 games into a season-ending 29-8 run, led the second-place Pirates by 10 games.

A one-hitter by Zane Smith and a ninth-inning single by Barry Bonds off John Franco produced a second straight shutout defeat, a 1-0 loss to the Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader on this date in 1990 at Three Rivers Stadium. The Mets scored one run in the second game, too, and one in each of the next two games. The five straight losses -- they were preceded by seven straight victories -- put the Mets 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Pirates four days after they led the NL East by a half-game. It was the beginning of the end of the Mets' dominance of the National League East. Their run of consecutive seasons of at least 87 victories ended at seven the following season after the departure of Darryl Strawberry.

And on this date in 1999, Darryl Hamilton hit a grand slam off Darryl Kile in a six-run rally in the fifth inning that carried the Mets to a 6-2 victory over the Rockies at Shea Stadium. Masato Yoshii struck out nine in six innings and gained his 10th victory. With 25 games remaining, the Mets trailed the Braves by 2 1/2 games.

On deck: The Mets head to Atlanta for a three-game series against the Braves starting on Monday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Steve Trachsel heads to the mound for his first start in 10 days. Trachsel is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA after winning his first start of the season, 1-0, in a victory over the Giants. He will be countered by Braves right-hander John Thomson, who is 3-4 with a 4.80 ERA.