What is a fourth outfielder? You can probably picture one and it’s something like Abraham Almonte or Trevor Crowe or Jolbert Cabrera (depending on your age, maybe). How accurate that example player is, however, is an interesting question.
Is the fourth outfielder just the fourth guy on the depth chart? What if that guy is also the back-up (or starting) second baseman? Is it someone who comes short of qualifying plate appearances for statistical leaderboards? Is it outfielders who wear number four? Kyle Glaser at Baseball America dug into the question of the fourth outfielder by examining “every player who served as a reserve or platoon outfielder in the majors in at least one of the last four seasons (2015-18).