Matt Shoemaker stared at Shane Robinson from the mound on a Tempe Diablo Stadium back field on Wednesday afternoon. There was no screen between the two men, and Shoemaker had no idea if Robinson would be swinging at his pitches or not.
Shoemaker inhaled, contorted his body, and delivered a fastball to catcher Carlos Perez. Robinson watched it go, then swung at the fourth pitch, another fastball, and ripped it into the hole between short and third base. .
Shoemaker did not flinch. He inhaled again and fired another pitch.
“That was probably just off the dirt,” the Angels right-hander later said.