For Olson, franchise record for consecutive games came naturally

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Olson never set out to chase a franchise record.

There wasn't a number circled on a calendar or a streak he monitored each morning. There was simply an expectation -- one instilled long before he reached the Major Leagues -- that if he was healthy enough to play, he'd be in the lineup.

"It's never something that I set out to do," Olson said. "I just expect to play if I'm healthy and ready to go, and it's just kind of stacked up games."

On Friday night against the Cardinals, those games added up to history.

Olson appeared in his 741st consecutive game for Atlanta, passing Braves icon Dale Murphy for the longest consecutive games streak in franchise history. His overall streak reached 875 games, ninth longest in Major League history and just 21 shy of passing Cardinals legend Stan Musial for eighth all-time.

For Braves manager Walt Weiss, the remarkable part isn't simply the number. It's everything required to reach it.

"At some point, you start to take it for granted because he's just out there every day," Weiss said. "But it's truly amazing what he's doing. To put together a streak that long, you have to play well, or the manager usually gives you a day off here and there. He's performed through it all. He's played with broken bones. He's just a great example for his teammates to look up to."

Olson credits much of that mindset to the way he was raised.

"I grew up in a 'rub some dirt on it' household," Olson said with a laugh. "'Get up, you're fine.'"

That mentality only strengthened once he reached Oakland, where veteran infielder Marcus Semien became an example of what everyday availability looked like.

"When I got to the big leagues with the A's, Marcus Semien is wired like that," Olson said. "He was kind of the veteran when I was a rookie, so it started getting ingrained in me. Then I came over here, and that's how it's been for decades."

Of course, Olson acknowledges there is a difference between playing hurt and playing injured.

"I think everybody's playing through some stuff," he said. "I just haven't had anything that I felt like was enough that I couldn't go help the team win that night."

Weiss believes Olson's durability goes beyond toughness.

"I think mental toughness is at the top of the list," Weiss said. "He's also built great for a baseball player. He's not wound tight. There's a lot of leverage to his body. He's tall, long-limbed and not overly muscle-bound, which can work against you in this game. It's the ideal baseball body, really. The way he's built, the way he's wired and the mental toughness -- it's all part of it."

The streak has coincided with some of the most productive years of Olson's career. Since arriving in Atlanta before the 2022 season, he has become one of baseball's premier power hitters while never missing a game.

Olson believes the consistency works both ways.

"I think it helps knowing that you're going to be in the lineup every day," he said. "I've been in that platoon role before, and there's some pressure involved when you feel like you've got to perform today to play tomorrow. It lightens the load a little bit when you know you're going to be penciled into the lineup tomorrow. It kind of frees you up to play your game."

For Olson, that's all the streak has ever been: another opportunity to play the game the next day.

The history has simply come along with it.