In baseball, pitching by position players refers to the act of a position player being used as a pitcher. A position player typically pitches when a game has a lopsided score or when the game has gone so far into extra innings that no other pitchers are available. The term is not used for a two-way player, a baseball player who is skilled at pitching and who plays another position.

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important player on the defensive side of the game, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closer.