Detroit >> Manager AJ Hinch gave rookie Wenceel Perez the start of the game off on Saturday.

Perez has been going through it a bit of late, 6-for-44 in the last 11 games. But Saturday’s decision had less to do with the past 11 games and more to do with Saturday’s pitcher matchup.

Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta is holding hitters to a .237 average with a 34.6% strikeout rate with his mid-90s four-seam fastball. And right now, fastballs are beating Perez.

“What he’s going through is a natural, normal hitter issue that comes and goes throughout the season,” Hinch said. “Today’s day off was about Peralta versus him.”

On May 23, Perez was slashing .295/.364/.860. Entering play Saturday, his slash-line was .248/.315/.731. He knows exactly what pitchers are trying to do against him.

“They are trying to throw inside hard and then go away,” said Perez, who is a switch-hitter. “I have to adjust and be more prepared to (take the outside pitches) the other way. They are trying to get you out front, going in and out.

“It’s always been like that. They like to take you out of your rhythm.”

The fix, simply put, is an adjustment to his posture. The array of pitches away, from both sides of the plate, have got him leaning over too much. He’s missing the soft stuff away and he’s late on the fastballs in.

“Generally when he’s fighting his hitting mechanics and getting a little bit top heavy, he has a hard time with fastballs, with velo,” Hinch said. “And that’s a problem against Freddy Peralta. Because if Freddy is right, he’s a lot of velo and a lot of fastballs.”

Perez continues to do good things, even during this slump. His chase rate (26.7%) and whiff rate (17.5%) are low. He’s putting balls in play. But he’s seeing fastballs 59% of the time and in the last two weeks he’s seen his average on those pitches drop from .286 to .269.

“With Wenceel getting his hitting mechanics squared away, he will take some good swings and the quality of at-bat is usually on the high end,” Hinch said. “But his results come when he can control more pitches by controlling his posture.”

Re-inVested

Tigers reliever Will Vest has been a force since the calendar turned to May. He’s allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings since May 1, with 15 strikeouts and three walks.

“He gets in these stretches where he can really attack a lot of different style hitters, especially lefties,” Hinch said. “They don’t center him up as much. His three pitches are effective and his strike throwing increases.”

Left-handed hitters are slashing a meek .226/.278/.258 against Vest, and are 0-for-6 against his changeup.

“Because of the fast arm and late action on his pitches, he gets some foul balls, gets into good counts and he’s getting a little more swing-and-miss,” Hinch said. “And then you look up and you realize he’s put together this long string of success. He’s just very reliable.”

Outfield audition

Rookie Justyn-Henry Malloy got his first start in left field, after starting his big-league career with four straight starts as the designated hitter.

The Tigers need to see if he can be at least an adequate defender. At 24, they’d prefer not to lock him into a permanent DH role.

“Everything I saw in spring training is that he can handle all the plays,” Hinch said. “Consistency is what is going to separate him from being out there more often versus being more of a DH type. The only way we’re going to find out is by putting him out there.”

Hinch said he expects Malloy to play the outfield again on Tuesday against Washington and possibly two times in the shorter left field at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.