Special attention is helping Angels catcher Carlos Perez develop in his second season

Steve Soliz peppers the Angels catchers with fastballs from the pitching machine each morning. They start at 60 feet 6 inches.

After every three each player secures, they take two steps up, until they are within 45 feet of the machine. It is, more or less, a pitch-framing drill. The intention is to quicken the time in which catchers can react come game time by limiting the time they have in practice, said Soliz, the Angels’ catching and information coach.

“We are creating that unnerving moment where you have to stay soft, you have to be efficient with your movements,” he said.

Over the last year, Soliz’s primary charge has been 25-year-old catcher Carlos Perez, who was acquired by the Angels before last season and has become their principal receiver. Soliz noticed quickly that Perez required “special attention,” and so began the extra drills.

“I want to warm up his eyes and warm up his hands before he gets out here to catch pitchers,” Soliz said. “I want to train the hands to have as little movement as possible.”

Last spring, there were even workouts designed to elicit talking, because Perez hardly spoke when he arrived.

“I don’t want to use the word shy, but I saw a very introverted young man who needed to blossom, vocalize, and become a little bit of a presence,” Soliz said. “And, when he came to us, he was a slower-moving body. We got him to move a little quicker.”

With a .299 on-base percentage and four home runs, Perez did not hit well during his half-season major league debut. But the Angels will accept his limited power and patience if he develops defensively the way they expect.

He caught his first pitch in December 2007, when Cleveland asked him to try it during a workout in his native Venezuela. He had only played the outfield, and he did not like his first days catching. Four weeks later, Toronto signed him as a catcher, and 538 of his 540 professional starts have come behind the plate.

“I really like it now,” Perez said. “The way you see the game, the way you command the game, you’re the captain. All the position players see you, your energy, and everything you do. You’re the only guy running the whole place.”

Snowed out

Mike Trout and several Angels exited the clubhouse at Tempe Diablo Stadium just before 9 a.m. Tuesday, duffel bags in hand, to board a bus that was waiting to transport them to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Not 10 minutes later, they walked back in. The team’s scheduled trip to Salt Lake City for an intrasquad game at the home stadium of the Angels’ triple-A affiliate had been canceled.

Snow pounded Salt Lake City all morning, forcing the decision. Trout, a noted weather fanatic, scanned his phone for updates and kept his teammates abreast with pictures of the snowfall.

The Angels had another scheduled game Tuesday against Oakland, and the major leaguers who planned to play in Utah — Trout, right fielder Kole Calhoun and first baseman C.J. Cron — were inserted into the lineup for it.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura