The Astros have designated swingman Jerome Williams for assignment, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Houston also optioned shortstop Jonathan Villar to Triple-A.
Williams, a 32-year-old righty, signed a one-year, $2.1MM deal with Houston before the season. He owns a 5.91 ERA through 45 2/3 innings with the club, all in relief. He does own superior peripherals (7.1 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9) than those that he carried as a starter in previous seasons, and some ERA estimators looked more favorably on his work (4.70 FIP, 4.09 xFIP, 3.72 SIERA).
