Photo by Kathy Willens/AP
This weekend the casual baseball fan will need a guide to know who is who on the field, but even the most ardent fans wouldn’t know some of the Mets regardless if they were wearing their regular uniforms with their last names or their “Player’s Weekend” nickname jerseys. The Mets have guys named Tyler Bashlor, Drew Smith, Daniel Zamora, Jack Reinheimer, Dominic Smith, and Jeff McNeil in their lineup. If you saw the keystone cops in action. Smith who is not a leftfielder was playing leftfield earlier this week and collided with his shortstop which resulted in a loss. Keep your eye on the lefty infielder McNeil though as he has had a quick start to his MLB career.
This is the second consecutive season for Players’ Weekend which MLB says is “an opportunity for fans to get a little wider window into the personalities of the players.” Whether or not you believe that or see this as another revenue stream for MLB and the MLBPA is another theory. All teams will be participating through all games Friday through Sunday, and this year players were allowed to use emojis for their nicknames like Brad Boxberger of Arizona.
All clubs will be wearing these specially designed non-traditional alternate uniforms, and each player is allowed to wear an approved nickname of their choice on the back of their jerseys along with a patch on the sleeve to pay tribute to a person or persons who aided their career. If players did not submit their nicknames or they weren’t approved then a nickname was assigned to them. Some of the nicknames are creative with some great stories behind them — others are not the more common nicknames that fans are familiar with. Players also have to choice to use custom bat colors with artistic design along with custom designed cleats if they choose to do so.
Mets fans are just relieved that they will not have to face the “METS KILLER” aka Daniel Murphy. Tonight features two struggling lefties from both teams” “VARGY” and “DOUBLE G” on the mound. Those nicknames translate to Jason Vargas and Gio Gonzalez. You would expect Gio Gonzalez to thrive against this Mets lineup tonight. He does not have to worry about Yoenis Cespedes who is out of the remainder of the season and no Asdrubal Cabrera who was traded to the Phillies. Also on the DL are Brandon Nimmo, Jay Bruce, and while Lagares. While David Wright is still rehabbing, there are few marquee names in the starting line-up for the Mets except for the aging Jose Bautista, Jose Reyes, and Michael Conforto has been in a slump for the Mets and Todd Frazier is batting .233.
If Gio Gonzalez was looking to rebound, tonight is his night. Here are the rest of Gio’s teammates in our Players’ Weekend nickname guide:
Wilmer Difo: “EL DE”
Sean Doolittle: “DOC”
Adam Eaton: “SPANKY”
Erick Fedde: “FEDDECCINI”
Koda Glover: “BEAR”
Matt Grace: “GRACEY”
Bryce Harper: “MONDO”
Jeremy Hellickson: “HELLY”
Kelvin Herrera: “K 40”
Greg Holland: “HOLLY”
Howie Kendrick: “TRUCK”
Spencer Kieboom: “BOOMER”
Ryan Madson: “BLEST”
Justin Miller: “J. MILLZ”
Tommy Milone: “TOMASO”
Anthony Rendon: “ANT”
Mark Reynolds: “SHERIFF”
Tanner Roark: “T-RO”
Joe Ross: “JR”
Max Scherzer: “BLUE EYE”
Sammy Solis: “BIG ANGUS”
Juan Soto: “JUANJO”
Wander Suero: “THE ANIMAL”
Andrew Stevenson “STEVO”
Stephen Strasburg: “STRAS”
Michael A. Taylor: “MIGGY”
Trea Turner: “TRIPLE TREA”
Matt Wieters: “MAUI”
Ryan Zimmerman: “ZIM”
For the Mets, here are some of their nicknames:
Tyler Bashlor: “BASH”
Jose Bautista: “JOEYBATS”
Jerry Blevins: “JER-RY JER-RY JER-RY”
Jay Bruce: “BRUUUCE”
Michael Conforto: “SCOOTER”
Travis d’Arnaud: “LIL d”
Jacob deGrom: “deGROM”
Phillip Evans: “BARREL”
Wilmer Flores: “CATIRE”
Todd Frazier: “TODDFATHER”
Robert Gsellman: “G-MAN”
Luis Guillorme: “LUISMI”
Austin Jackson: “A-JAX”
Seth Lugo: “QUARTERRICAN”
Steven Matz: “MATZY”
Jeff McNeil: “JT”
Devin Mesoraco: “ROCKO”
Rafael Montero: “MONTERO”
Tomas Nido: “NIDO”
Corey Oswalt: “OZ”
Kevin Plawecki: “PLAW DAWG”
AJ Ramos: “JUNIOR”
Jose Reyes: “LA MELAZA”
Jacob Rhame: “RHAMROD”
T.J. Rivera: “T-BUTTA”
Amed Rosario: “EL NIÑO”
Paul Sewald: “PAULIE”
Dominic Smith: “BIG D”
Drew Smith: “SMITTY”
Anthony Swarzak: “T-SWEEZY”
Noah Syndergaard: “THOR”
Jason Vargas: “VARGY”
Bobby Wahl: “PEANUT”
Zack Wheeler: “WHEELS”
Some think tonight is a final audition for the Washington Nationals and Gio Gonzalez in an attempt to attract a team in need of a starting pitcher like the Milwaukee Brewers who lost out on Matt Harvey in a waiver claim. Sources say Gio Gonzalez passed through waivers which means he can be traded to any team now.
The bad news for the #Cubs, they have to face Matt Harvey today with the #Reds. The great news for the Cubs, the #Brewers won't have him the rest of the season for the pennant stretch. Be interesting now to seeif the Brewers try to acquire #Nats Gio Gonzalez, who cleared waivers
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 24, 2018
Bryce Harper Players’ Weekend cleats in a Harper’s Heroes design, Winnie the Pooh, Red Wing boots to honor his father, and the red checkerboard Vans design
Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets
Stadium: CitiField, Queens, New York
1st Pitch: 7:10 pm EDT
TV: MASN2; MLB.TV app out-of-network
Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
- Trea Turner: “TRIPLE TREA” SS
- Anthony Rendon: “ANT” 3B
- Bryce Harper: “MONDO” RF
- Ryan Zimmerman: “ZIM” 1B
- Juan Soto: “JUANJO” LF
- Matt Wieters: “MAUI” C
- Michael A. Taylor: “MIGGY” CF
- Wilmer Difo: “EL DE” 2B
- Gio Gonzalez “DOUBLE G” LHP
