Personalities on display during Players Weekend

MIAMI — The gang was all there, the usual faces. But those names — who were those guys donning Marlins jerseys Friday for the weekend series against the Padres?

It was surreal to scan the names on display in the home clubhouse at Marlins Park.

Strange? Yes, there was Varis Strange.

That was the moniker second baseman Dee Gordon chose to go by for the inaugural Players Weekend, conceived as an opportunity for major-leaguers to show their individual flair and (MLB hopes) give fans a chance to know them better.

The non-traditional alternate uniforms are intended to resemble those worn by teams in Little League, in step with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s emphasis on trying to attract a new generation of fans and players.

Players are also permitted for the three days to wear and use uniquely colored and designed spikes, batting gloves, wristbands, compression sleeves, catcher’s masks, and bats.

“These really loud jerseys and the fun last names and guys having [multi-]colored bats and shoes, it’s all just for fun,” said pitcher Dan Straily, who will be known as Rojo when he starts Sunday. “I’m glad it’s three days and not just one so at least we have a chance to enjoy it. We’ll probably be tired of it come Sunday and be ready to go back to our regular uniforms.”

Meanwhile, the major league home run leader, whose full name is Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton, will be known this weekend simply as Cruz.

The remainder of the Marlins’ starting lineup Friday following Varis Strange and Cruz was Yeli (Christian Yelich), Big Bear (Marcell Ozuna), JT (J.T. Realmuto), T-Mo (Tyler Moore), Aviles (Mike Aviles), Miggy Ro (Miguel Rojas) and Conley (Adam Conley).

“J.T., he really jumped out of the box for that one,” T-Mo said, rolling his eyes. “That was tough for him to figure out.”

Not to mention Conley, Aviles and Tomas Telis, who went with their last names as usual on their jerseys.

But others stand out. Manager Matt (Don Mattingly) was hoping to be able to call on the Unicorn (Brad Ziegler) to close out some games this weekend. There will likely be some set-up opportunities for the Steckasaurus (Drew Steckenrider), Bear (Kyle Barraclough) and Jarlin the Marlin (Jarlin Garcia).

Straily said he was dubbed Rojo (red in Spanish) because of his red beard because “I have a lot of Latin tendencies with a lot of the gear I wear.”

Straily actually had a nickname on top of a nickname. Covering Rojo on his jersey was a strip of tape bearing the inscription “The Weirdo.”

That was courtesy of Rojas because of the unorthodox, data-driven training regimen Straily follows (Driveline Baseball).

“He doesn’t understand it, so it’s weird to him,” Straily said.

Rojas said his choice of Miggy Ro is in recognition of the clubhouse attendants, who have referred to him that way since he joined the team in 2015, and also a nod to Venezuelan countryman Miguel Cabrera.

Injury update

Most encouraging was lefthander Wei-Yin Chen (elbow strain) beginning a rehab assignment and pitching one inning (12 pitches) for the Marlins’ Gulf Coast League team.

First baseman Justin Bour (right oblique strain), resumed baseball activities this week, hit about 20 balls off the tee Friday and did some fielding and long tosses. The Marlins hope to have him back sometime in September.

“Want to get back there as soon as I can, but I’ve got to be smart about it,” said Bour, on the disabled list since July 25. “When you take that significant time off from doing stuff completely, it’s a matter of building up that strength again.”

Gordon