For Albert Pujols, plantar fasciitis is really nothing new.

It seemed that manager Mike Scioscia was adding another boo-boo to the Angels’ list of injury concerns Tuesday when he revealed that slugger Albert Pujols was dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

In fact, Pujols has been dealing with the condition on and off for seven years.

“It comes and goes, feels good, then comes and goes,” he said.

According to the Mayo Clinic website, plantar fasciitis involves pain and inflammation of a thick band of tissue, called the plantar fascia, that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes. Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common causes of heel pain.

Pujols pledged to be smart about the condition and is trying orthotics this year for the first time, even though he’s been resistant in the past. Orthotics are custom-fitted arch support pieces that distribute pressure evenly around the foot.

“I think the whole reason it flared up this spring is because of my knee,” said Pujols, who underwent knee surgery last October.

Pujols will be the Angels’ designated hitter today against the Cleveland Indians after playing first base for the first time Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

“Right now I’m just focused on keeping my knee strong,” he said.

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Angels catcher Chris Snyder settles into his new (old) digs quickly.

For Chris Snyder, hanging on to a career in baseball means driving 100 miles per hour up Interstate 95 from the Washington Nationals’ spring training complex in Viera, Florida to Orlando International Airport, telling your wife and three kids to meet you back in Phoenix tomorrow, cramming to learn a new pitching staff in two weeks, and remembering to breathe in between.

The crazy thing is, Snyder knew it might happen.

“My family had just gotten down (to Florida) three, four days ago,” he said. “I told my wife, ‘don’t unpack too much because we might be going somewhere else, either down the road in Florida or in Phoenix.’ So we got word that the Nationals, the two guys they had — (Kurt) Suzuki and (Wilson) Ramos — they’re both good and they were going with them. They left it up to us to pursue other opportunities out here.”

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Albert Pujols plays five innings at first base, declares himself ready for Opening Day.

Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols wasn’t tested much in his first spring training game at first base Tuesday. He caught four throws from infielders on groundouts. He shuffled his feet. He got into a deep crouch before every pitch. He looked like himself.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Pujols to declare himself ready to play first base on Opening Day, April 1 in Cincinnati.

“I feel ready to go if Opening Day was tomorrow,” he said.

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