A pair of Braves teammates are MLB’s only remaining ironmen.
In a time where durability is at an all-time low and injuries are at an all-time high, it’s a shock that any players in Major League Baseball are able to accomplish an increasingly rare feat: appearing in all 162 contests during the regular season.
In 2022, just two players in the entire league were able to accomplish this feat and they happen to be a part of the same everyday infield for the Atlanta Braves.
Shortstop Dansby Swanson and first baseman Matt Olson are the only two players in the league that played in all 162 games of this year’s regular season.
Swanson, 28, made his first career All-Star Game appearance and had quite the offensive resurgence; hitting 25 home runs, driving in 96 runs and posting a career-high 115 OPS+ after having a bit of down year last season.
Olson, also 28, gave the Braves exactly what they were hoping for out of Freddie Freeman’s replacement at first base. The big left-handed slugger hit 34 home runs, drove in 103 and posted a 122 OPS+. He, like Swanson, led his respective league in games played for the second time this year.
Only two players appear in all 162 games and they’re Braves teammates
This is the second consecutive season where only two players managed to play in every single game of the regular season.
Last year, it was Royals infielder Whit Merrifield and Blue Jays infielder Marcus Semien who accomplished the feat. In 2019, the most recent full season before 2021, a whopping five players managed to pull this one off, including Merrifield and outfielder Jorge Soler, who were also teammates on the Royals. Infielders Jonathan Villar (Orioles), Starlin Castro (Marlins) and Marcus Semien (Athletics) also did it that season.
As rare as earning the “ironman” title in baseball is becoming, it’s put into a whole new perspective when one looks at how many pairs teammates were able to accomplish the feat in recent years. In fact, since 2003, only 8 pairs of teammates have been able to pull it off:
2022: Atlanta Braves infielders Matt Olson and Dansby Swanson
2019: Kansas City Royals infielder Whit Merrifield and outfielder Jorge Soler
2018: Atlanta Braves infielder Freddie Freeman and outfielder Nick Markakis
2017: Kansas City Royals infielders Eric Hosmer and Alcides Escobar
2008: Seattle Mariners outfielders Ichiro Suzuki and Raúl Ibañez
2006: Texas Rangers infielders Mark Teixeira and Michael Young
2005: Ichiro and Raúl Ibañez again, as well as New York Yankees Hideki Matsui and Alex Rodriguez