Ranking the Dodgers Nicknames for Player's Weekend

This weekend at Dodger Stadium will look a little different.

For the second consecutive year, Major League Baseball will bring back the "Player's Weekend," a three-day celebration for the players that features colorful, non traditional uniforms and hats featuring nicknames on the back and specialty player patches.

Additionally, players across all 30 MLB teams will be allowed to wear custom equipment for the weekend such as cleats, bats, socks, wristbands and more.

Across the league, some of our favorite nicknames include: rookie Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Indians who chose the nickname, "Not Justin." 

Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox chose "The Conductor," Joey Gallo of the Texas Rangers is "Pico de Gallo," and Brad Boxberger of the Arizona Diamondbacks is going with a box and hamburger emoji.

The Dodgers nicknames were announced last week, and we decided to rank them and explain some of them for you.

Top Tier Nicknames:

Walker Buehler: "FERRIS"

Buehler is pitching on Wednesday against the Cardinals, and will not start during the Player's Weekend Series meaning it will be "Ferris" Buehler's Day Off.

Rich Hill: "D Mountain"

This might be one of the better nicknames we've seen. After choosing the name of his son, "Brice," last season, Hill as evolved into a new pitcher in 2018. Sporting a beard, Rich, aka "Richard" becomes "Dick" and instead of his last name "Hill," he has morphed into a mighty mountain, hence the name, "D. Mountain."

Austin Barnes: "SAM"

Sticking with his rookie-year nickname, the story comes from when the team sent Barnes on a taco run in 2016, and when he got back, A.J. Ellis joked that Chase Utley didn't know Barnes' name. Utley joked that it was Sam, and so the name stuck.

Chase Utley: "Silver Fox"

Utley, who is also known as Kiké Hernandez's adopted father, has been called the "Silver Fox," for the past three seasons by fans and media alike. This is the final year of Utley's career and the last time you'll be able to see him sport the "Silver Fox" jersey.

Ross Stripling: "Chicken Strip"

Originally, Stripling chose the nickname "Chicken Strip" for Player's Weekend last season because he thought other players were going to have fun with it. He's known by a lot of nicknames, but since he chose Chicken Strip, the name has stuck and now he's embraced it.

Yasiel Puig: "WILD HORSE"

Broadcaster Vin Scully said, "The Wild Horse is loose," in 2014 as Puig raced to a triple.

Manny Machado: "EL MINISTRO"

Machado was "El Ministro de la Defensa" for his defense heroics during the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and he decided to keep it.

Brian Dozier: "BULL"

"Last year I went with the generic 'Doze,' but this year, I developed the nickname back in college, the 'bulldozer,' and it stuck a little bit with the Twins," Dozier said

Pedro Baez: "LA MULA"

"The Mule" in Spanish, Baez said he got it for his work ethic last year, and he's sticking with it again this year.

JT Chargois: "SHAG"

Chargois' last name is pronounced "Shag-Wah," and he is known around the clubhouse as "Shag," or "Shaggy."

Yasmani Grandal: "YAZMANIAN DEVIL"

Grandal has been compared to the Warner Bros. character the Tazmanian Devil throughout his career, and even has the cartoon character on his bats.

Second Tier Nicknames:

Justin Turner: "REDTURN2"

Justin combined the nickname "Red," with his number when he used to play second base for the New York Mets. It's also a phrase for middle infielders, "Turn 2," not to mention his social media handle.

John Axford: "AX MAN"

Chris Taylor: "CT3"

Julio Urias: "EL CULICHI"

Urias is from Culiacan, Mexico, which is where the nickname "El Culichi" orginates.

Pat Venditte: "P-VITTY"

A play on "P-Diddy," but we feel the ambidextrous "switch pitcher," could have come up with something more creative given his unique abilities on the mound.

Kenley Jansen: "KENLEYFORNIA"

Kenley changed his nickname after a fan sent him a custom made flag of California that instead read, "Kenleyfornia." The Dodgers' closer now hangs the flag above his locker and chose the nickname as a tribute to the fans. They would also have loved "California Love," Jansen's entrance music as well.

Hyun-Jin Ryu: "MONSTER"

Ryu decided to continue his nickname that arose during his rookie year.

Dennis Santana: "ANFERNEE"

Santana's middle name will replace his last name during Players' Weekend.

Joc Pederson: "KING"

"I really don't know," Pederson said. "Some things just stick."

Zac Rosscup: "CUP"

Kenta Maeda: "MAEKEN"

According to Maeda himself, "Maeken" is the same as his initials in Japan. So instead of "KM," they say "Maeken."

Third Tier Nicknames:

Scott Alexander: "SCOTTIE BOY"

Cody Bellinger: "BELLI"

Daniel Hudson: "HUDDY"

Enrique Hernandez: "KIKÉ"

Corey Seager: "SEAGS"

Erik Goeddel: "GOODY"

Tony Cingrani: "GRANI"

Alex Wood: "AWOOD"

Dylan Floro: "F LORO"

Josh Fields: "FIELDS"

Max Muncy: "MUNCE"

Clayton Kershaw: "KERSH"

Matt Kemp: "MATT"

Players weekend is Aug. 24-26, the Dodgers will be home that weekend to face the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.