Matt Olson continues to climb the list of consecutive games played

If, and not a very big if at that, Matt Olson takes the infield dirt to start Monday’s game at first base for the Braves against the Marlins at Truist Park, he will make history.

Olson has played in 798 consecutive regular-season games dating to his time with the Athletics. Nellie Fox, who played in the 1930s, is tied with Olson for 11th in MLB history.

A Parkview High School graduate, Olson hasn’t missed a contest since early May 2021, when a ball he hit in batting practice ricocheted backward and hit him in the left eye.

He missed three games then, and none since.

“Especially in this day and age, right, it’s so impressive. And I guess from the outside looking in, it’s probably tough to understand how impressive it is,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said Sunday. “It’s just that this sport is virtually every day. That’s what makes it unique and so difficult.

“What (Olson’s) doing speaks a lot to the guy. He performs year in and year out. He’s rock solid in the clubhouse and as a teammate. And he shows up every day ready to go. But typically, there’s always something, a nick here or there that keeps you out, or even getting sick for a day. This guy’s played through it all and continues to do so, and like I said, continues to perform.”

Olson, in a somewhat self-deprecating way, scoffs at the significance of the streak, claiming during spring training that as a first baseman he’s not as active in the field as his teammates, and as a base runner he rarely lifts the anchor to take off for a steal. That doesn’t change that fact the 32-year-old is likely to pass Gus Suhr (822, 10th), Eddie Yost (829, ninth) and Stan Musial (895, eighth) on MLB’s all-time consecutive games played list by early August.