In the modern game of baseball, we don't see guys play the full 162 games of a season very often. Teams give even their best players days off here and there to recover from minor injuries or to just keep them fresh for the playoffs all the time and very often, it is the best course of action. As a result, Matt Olson's streak of consecutive games played is all the more remarkable.
With his start in the Braves' series clinching win over the Mets on Thursday, Olson has now played in 741 straight games going back to 2021. Not only is that wild in this era where teams are managing players' health and workloads more than ever, Olson's streak is starting to climb the all-time leaderboards.
Matt Olson is playing his 741st consecutive game today, dating to 5/2/21, passing Dale Murphy for the 13th-longest streak in MLB history
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 14, 2025
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…
Matt Olson's durability is already among the all-time greats, but he has a long way to go to get to the top
Let's make one thing abundantly clear: Olson is not going to threaten Cal Ripken or Lou Gehrig in the record books here. He is going to get hit by a pitch and need a day off or celebrate a division win too hard at some point in the coming seasons. There is a reason why these streaks are exceedingly rare in baseball and the odds that Olson even double his current streak are astronomically low.
Still, as weird as his season as been, Olson's consistent availability saw him pass another Braves legend in Dale Murphy on Thursday night. Assuming he plays in all of the Braves' remaining 41 games this season, he will pass Pete Rose (745) and right behind Nellie Fox (798) for 11th on the all-time consecutive games leaderboard. If he plays all 162 next year somehow, he would pass Fox as well as Gus Suhr (822), Eddie Yost (829), and Stan Musial (895) into sole possession of eighth all-time with 944.
During what has been a truly disappointing season for the Braves, it is nice to have some history to follow along with. Olson can only pass Pete Rose this season, but it could be the start of a really fun storyline heading into next season along with Atlanta playing significantly better lately.