Position player

In baseball, a position player is a player who on defense plays as an infielder, outfielder, or catcher. In Major League Baseball (since 1973 in the American League and since 2022 in the National League),[1] there is also a designated hitter, who bats but does not play any defensive positions (and is therefore not a position player). Position players are eligible to pitch, and a manager may have a player do so in the case of a blowout during a game, or if he runs out of eligible pitchers in a game, usually occurring when the game goes into many extra innings. However, this is rare. Note that while a position player may be eligible to pitch, the pitcher is not considered a position player.[2]

The term is also used in ice hockey, to refer to all non-goaltender players, although "skater" is the more common term.