Utility Player - Baseball

Baseball

In baseball, a utility player is a player who can play several different positions. In general, each major league baseball team has at least one player who can be described as a utility player.

Most professional teams have two types of utility players. There are "utility infielders", who usually play all of the infield positions (plus occasionally catcher). Utility outfielders, or fourth outfielders, tend to play all three outfield positions at various times. Occasionally, there will be players who perform a combination of the two duties. Utility players tend to be players who come off of the bench, though this isn't absolute. Often, players who don't have high prospects to be a major league star will learn additional positions so they can look more attractive to major league clubs as bench talent.

In 1991, the Detroit Tigers' Tony Phillips was the first player to start ten games at five different positions in the same season. César Tovar, Cookie Rojas, Bert Campaneris, Shane Halter, Don Kelly, and Jose Oquendo all played every position (including pitcher) during their respective careers.

Until becoming an everyday third baseman with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and later an everyday second baseman with the Seattle Mariners, Chone Figgins earned a reputation as the game's most respected utility player. In 2005, for example, Figgins started 48 games at third, 45 in center field and 36 at second, and finished 17th in American League Most Valuable Player balloting. A famous current utility player is Ryan Theriot of the San Francisco Giants, who has played shortstop, third base, second and outfield at some point in his short major league career. Mark DeRosa is another famous utility man, playing just about every position for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, and the San Francisco Giants. As well as the Oakland A's third baseman Brandon Inge who has played third base, catcher, left field, right field, and center field. Several players have recently been named All Stars while playing multiple positions in their All Star seasons. Second baseman Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays has played first, third, shortstop and outfield in his career. José Bautista is also a current utility player, having played first base, second base, third base, right field, center field, and left field in his career. Zobrist and Bautista both finished in the top 10 in MVP voting while starting at least 40 games at two different defensive positions. Other utility players would include Doug Mientkiewicz, Eduardo Nunez, and Brian Bixler.

In softball, a utility player is a player who can play several positions but can also bat well. Coaches often look for such players to bat as clean-up or 5th in the lineup.