Matt Olson’s 798-Game Ironman Run Is Absurd in Today's MLB

We're at a time in professional sports in which load management is at an all-time high. In many cases, it's for the best. Finding ways to keep your best players fresh for longer obviously helps in the long run.

Availability is a luxury that often gets overlooked. Whether it's for load management purposes, or more likely due to injury, it's very rare to see a guy consistently every day in Major League Baseball. In recent memory there has also been a significant increase in analytics in the game, which has helped lead to more platoons and maximized lineups and other things of that nature.

All of this is to say, that with injuries, load management and analytics, you don't typically see a guy stay in the action for all 162 games in the marathon that is a big league season consistently. That is true of the vast majority of players around the league, aside from Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves.

Matt Olson is doing something no one else is right now

Apr 11, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson (28) reacts after a double against the Cleveland Guardians in the ninth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Atlanta seemingly hasn't been fully healthy as a team in years, and yet Olson is out there each day trying to help his team win games. On Sunday, Olson played in his 798th consecutive game, which is tied for the 11th-longest streak in big league history, per MLB's Sarah Langs.

"Matt Olson is playing his 798th consecutive game today, dating to 5/2/21, tying the 11th-longest streak in MLB history: 1982-98 Cal Ripken Jr: 2,632, 1925-39 Lou Gehrig: 2,130, 1916-25 Everett Scott: 1,307, 1975-83 Steve Garvey: 1,207, 2000-07 Miguel Tejada: 1,152, 1963-70 Billy Williams: 1,117, 1922-30 Joe Sewell: 1,103, 1952-57 Stan Musial: 895, 1949-55 Eddie Yost: 829, 1931-37 Gus Suhr: 822, 2021-pres Matt Olson: 798 *active, 1955-60 Nellie Fox: 798."

There are few unbreakable records in baseball. Ripken's record of 2,632 straight games seemingly is one. Olson has played in 799 games straight since 2021. That means that he's 1,833 games behind Ripken. The Braves have 146 games left this season.

That means that if Olson can play in all of them, he'll increase his streak to 945 games, which would be the eighth-longest streak in big league history. But he would still be 1,687 games behind Ripken, which means that he would need to keep his streak going for another 10 full seasons after the 2026 season comes to an end, plus a bit of time in the 11th season. Simply put, it's not going to happen.

While this is the case, what he's doing right now is very impressive and it stands alone among how the game is today. No matter who is pitching on the other side, Olson is out there every day giving Braves fans a boost.