Could Braves' Matt Olson become this generation’s Cal Ripken Jr?

Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson is doing something nobody else in baseball is right now. He is quietly becoming this generation’s Iron Man.

798.

That is the consecutive games streak Olson has right now, and it has him tied with Nellie Fox for the 11th spot on the all-time list. Another week or two, and he will be in the top 10, and when he keeps going, he has a list of names next to him that do not feel as historical and more like it could be a benchmark.

Which brings up the question we should ask.

Is Matt Olson this generation's version of Cal Ripken Jr.?

I know that feels like a big question right off the bat. Cal Ripken Jr.is much more than a name on the list. He is the list. Ripken played 2,632 consecutive games, one of the most unattainable numbers, it seems like, of any sport.

The thing about it is not about reaching 2,632. The chances of anyone reaching that number are absurd.

It is about how one gets on the list at all.

Ripken's 2,632 streak was the standard for how durable one could be. Showing up and playing every day through everything thrown their way was a whole generation. Players built streaks of games year after year because it was still common for players to manage it.

Olson has played virtually every single day of every single game for five consecutive seasons. In one of those seasons, he did not start one single game and still got into the game in the ninth inning of the following game, just to continue his streak of consecutive starts. This is indicative of how seriously he takes it.

But it is where the comparison gets to be an actual comparison.

Olson is not playing baseball the way Ripken did

There is simply nothing rewarded in the current game for this kind of streak. It has a subtle disadvantage.

The teams today are planned for player days off, not based on fatigue or because of the player, or because of player requests, but based on math in terms of how to succeed over six months, and this means they are sitting their everyday players for at least a day.

Then you also have how the game itself is played.

Pitchers throw harder now. Hitters swing harder. Every pitch carries more stress than it used to. Over time, that adds up in ways that do not always show up in a box score. It is not just about being available for one game. It is about surviving the accumulation of all of them.

Depth also plays a role.

Teams are no longer stuck if they give a starter a day off. Bench players can step in without everything falling apart. That makes it easier to justify sitting someone for maintenance, even if that player would prefer to keep going.

And when something minor pops up, the response is immediate.

A tight muscle. A slight illness. Anything that feels even remotely questionable can lead to a day off. It is smarter, no doubt. It helps players stay productive longer.

It also ends streaks before they have a chance to grow.

That is why Olson’s number stands out the way it does

It is not just that he has played every day. It is that he has managed to do it in an environment that makes it increasingly difficult to keep doing so.

The gap between him and the rest of the league says plenty on its own. Nobody else is particularly close.

So no, Olson is not chasing Ripken’s record.

But in a game that has moved away from ironman runs entirely, he is doing the closest thing to it that still exists.

And the longer it continues, the harder it becomes to ignore just how rare that has become.