Angels’ Jerome Williams ‘disappointed’ he’s going back to bullpen

Jerome Williams has the lowest earned-run average among the Angels starters at 2.58. He is tied with Felix Hernandez for fourth in the American League. The only AL starters with a lower ERA are Clay Buchholz of the Boston Red Sox, Hisashi Iwakuma of the Seattle Mariners and Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox.

On Wednesday, the Angels told Williams they were moving him back to the bullpen.

“If you were in my shoes, would you be disappointed? Of course I’m disappointed,” Williams said. “That’s their decision.

“I’ll do anything I have to do to have a winning team. If that means going to the bullpen, I’ll go to the bullpen.”

Williams shined in the rotation during the absences of Jered Weaver and Tommy Hanson. Williams has an ERA of 3.08 in six starts -- by itself lower than any of the other Angels’ starters -- and 1.69 in eight relief appearances.

“His versatility can definitely help us patch some leaks,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “The five guys we have in our rotation are really the original look.”

Weaver and Hanson never have appeared in relief in the major leagues, and C.J. Wilson and Jason Vargas have not done so since 2009.

Joe Blanton, who made eight relief appearances for the Philadelphia Phillies last season, remained in the rotation despite leading the major leagues in losses and hits allowed. Blanton is 1-9 with a 5.53 ERA, which ranks 45th among the 47 qualifying AL starters.

Williams smirked at the question of whether he believed his experience as a reliever worked against him.

“I guess that’s my fault, huh?” he said. “I kind of saw this coming. In this game, you never know.”

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