Braves Iron Man Matt Olson Has Timely Big Night on Lou Gehrig Day

Matt Olson's bat continues to resurge, giving the Atlanta Braves a strong night en route to a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. He tallied two extra-base hits, including a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the sixth inning that came off his bat like a missile.

While it just cleared the wall, he launched it at a career-high 49 degrees, which is 10 degrees more than his former high on a home run this season (39 degrees on May 2).

Matt sends it outta here! #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/PXaGJXajwN
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 3, 2026

The last player with as high a launch angle on a homer was Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, also 49 degrees, on June 16, 2025, at Tampa Bay against the Rays.

Olson's 17 home runs are second in the National League behind Kyle Schwarber's 22 home runs. He's tied with Byron Buxton, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice for the fourth most home runs in the majors overall. Suffice to say that he is in some good company.

This game-winning shot couldn't have come on a more fitting day. June 2 is Lou Gehrig Day, which honors the legendary ballplayer, who played in 2,130 consecutive games before his career was cut short by Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The disease is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

The current Iron Man in baseball was able to deliver a big hit on a night that celebrated the Iron Horse across the majors leagues.

"I really didn't think about it until the postgame interview, but yeah, it's pretty cool," Olson said after the game. "We've talked about the streak. It's not something I'm, like, hanging up on a pedestal. But being able to show up and play while I'm able to and I want to."

His streak continued even after there were concerns about his elbow after an awkward swing. A short slump followed shortly after. He had a 10-game stretch midway through this month in which he went 5-for-39 (.128), with a .389 OPS and five RBIs.

The week of play since that cold spell has put any concerns to bed. In his last seven games, he's batting .276 with a .999 OPS, three home runs and four RBIs. In the grand scheme of things, he got out of his slump pretty quickly.

"That happens to everybody, and the good ones, that's only a week," manager Walt Weiss said after the game. "You know, average Joe, it's a month, you know, where they struggle. But the really good ones, it's a week."

He worked through the slump, and carries his streak and recent tear through Lou Gehrig Day. At the end of the night, his streak sits at 843. It's the longest active streak in the majors by a longshot, and it's the ninth-longest streak in MLB history.

Olson needs to play in 53 more consecutive games to pass Stan Musial for eighth all-time. That's the next longest streak that can be reached this season. After that, it's Joe Sewell's 1,103 games streak that lasted from 1922 to 1930.

That would come much later in the 2027 season, assuming there are 162 games to be played.

The Braves took the first game of their series against the Blue Jays. In what feels like a routine fact to point out this season, they are in line to win another series when they resume action on Wednesday. Grant Holmes will go toe-to-toe with Patrick Corbin when first pitch gets underway at 7:15 p.m.

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