Coming into Tuesday’s game against the Pirates, the Braves became the first team since the 1944 Cincinnati Reds to have four players play in every one of their club’s first 110 games of a season.
Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson and Austin Riley have all played in each of the @Braves' first 110 games this season. The last time an MLB team had four players play in every one of their team's first 110 games of a season was the 1944 Cincinnati Reds. pic.twitter.com/mu36FlzhOp
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) August 8, 2023
This is nothing new. Atlanta has long had a culture of playing every day. Chipper Jones established the expectation, which was passed down to Freddie Freeman, then Dansby Swanson, which is now the norm.
Matt Olson played in every game last year as well as 156, 60 out of a possible 60, and 162 across four different seasons with the A’s. The one outlier, he only appeared in 127 games in 2019 for Oakland following an injury to his hand.
Since becoming a full-time starter in 2o2o, Austin Riley has only missed a handful of games — 9 in 2020, two in 2021, and three in 2o22.
Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna have a less pristine track record, with the latter’s presence being more scarce.
Albies became a full time starter in 2018, where he started 158 games and then 160 contests the following season. He missed some time during the COVID-shortened season, only appearing in about half of the games then followed it up with 156 appearances in 2021. The fun-loving second baseman missed a ton of time last year with injuries to his foot and hand but is back to his iron man ways in 2023.
Ronald Acuna’s injury history is extensive. Other than in 2019, when he appeared in 156, the Venezuelan superstar has never started more than 119 games, which was last year when he was a shell of himself. In terms of percentage, the highest came in 2020 when he appeared in 46 out of a possible 60 games. He seems on track to surpass both career highs in 2023.
There was once a narrative on the national level that the Braves always fell short in the playoffs because their players played every game, and the lack of rest caught up over such a long season.
That was quickly put to bed in 2021 when the Braves had several players — Dansby Swanson, Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, and Austin Riley — play in almost every game and won the World Series.
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Photographer: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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