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José Romero may be seen as a litmus test for 2-way players. He was below average each way, and below by enough that the notion of providing roster value has to become a little suspect. The historical record would agree, as Pepillo’s career was very short (to the point where

He was better on the mound, with an argument for a steady rotation slot in 1901 and 1902. He struck out a lot of batters for his time, but also gave up a lot of walks. When he kept his hits allowed low, he could be dominant; when that struggled, there was a lot of traffic on the base paths, a situation exacerbated by a tendency to give up the long ball at an above-average rate.

He hit well in 1899 in limited appearances, which may have been the impetus for him being treated as a 2-way player. He only had one decent year at the plate, 1901, where he hit for surprising power. He almost never drew a walk and struck out a ton. He spent most of his time in CF or RF, and was decent there–not great, but not a liability by any means.

This projection seems solid to me: the question, honestly, is whether Romero even belongs in the set of players we treat. The decision to do so is more out of curiosity of how the two-way players emerge, and further refinement in that space could easily lead to him being dropped in the future.

Batting Projections

Pitching Projections