Abbreviations and Numbers for Baseball Field Positions
Who’s on first? Baseball fans (and Abbott and Costello fans) know that this question isn’t easy to answer. The player who just hit the ball is probably the guy on first, but what about 1B — and where do the PH and PR come into play? Baseball position abbreviations help us understand where everyone is, and they’re not as tricky as they seem.
When one team is at bat, their opponent has nine players in the field. Each of these players holds a different position. For scorekeeping purposes, each of the main baseball positions is written as a standard number instead of an abbreviation.
|
Abbreviation |
Position and Number |
What Do They Do? |
|
P |
Pitcher (1) |
Starts every play by throwing the ball; stands on the pitcher’s mound |
|
C |
Catcher (2) |
Crouches behind home plate to catch pitches |
|
1B |
First Baseman (3) |
Positioned closest to first base |
|
2B |
Second Baseman (4) |
Positioned closest to second base |
|
3B |
Third Baseman (5) |
Positioned closest to third base |
|
SS |
Shortstop (6) |
Plays infield between second and third base |
|
LF |
Left Fielder (7) |
Plays on left side of outfield |
|
CF |
Center Fielder (8) |
Plays the middle of the outfield |
|
RF |
Right Fielder (9) |
Plays on right side of outfield |
|
IF |
Infield |
Square area inside the four bases |
|
OF |
Outfield |
Playing area beyond the bases |
|
SP |
Starting Pitcher |
Begins the game as pitcher |
|
RP |
Relief Pitcher |
Takes over as pitcher |
|
MRP |
Middle Relief Pitcher |
Takes over as pitcher in the middle of the game |
|
LRP |
Long Relief Pitcher |
Relieves SP if he has to leave game early |
|
CL/CP |
Closer/Closing Pitcher |
Comes in for final innings |
