Brewers 6, Angels 1 …

Albert Pujols‘ surgically right knee has progressed to the point where he’s playing first base with no problems — though he wasn’t tested in his five-inning Tuesday debut — but now he’s dealing with something else.

“What’s giving him a little more trouble now is his heel, his foot,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “But he’s fine out there.”

Pujols has plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He dealt with it a little bit in 2004, ’05 and ’06 and didn’t miss any games, and the plan is for him to play Wednesday and Thursday (with at least one of those starts coming at first base).

Still, this is the kind of thing that can linger, so it’s worth monitoring.

Some more notes as the Angels moved to 5-13-4 this spring …

The good

Mike Trout went 1-for-3, driving in a run and running a long way to make a nice catch in the center field warning track.

David Carpenter, looking like a favorite for the final bullpen spot, got back-to-back outs in the sixth and has had a scoreless outing in eight of his nine appearances.

Howie Kendrick went 1-for-3 and has hit safely in all 14 of his Spring Training games, putting his batting average at .512.

The bad

Jason Vargas was tagged for five runs on eight hits (two of them homers) in 5 1/3 innings, putting his Cactus League ERA at 6.00.

Chad Cordero gave up a home run in two-thirds of an inning. Great story, but he’s now given up 12 runs in 4 2/3 innings and will probably be reassigned to Minor League camp pretty soon.

Mark Trumbo went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and is 9-for-42 this spring, with nine strikeouts and two walks.

Best play (that I saw)

Brewers center fielder Logan Schafer robbed Pujols of a potential homer to end the third inning, flipping the ball from his glove to his bare hand on the way down.

Best quote

Pujols, on his debut: “I could’ve played nine innings right now. But playing nine innings right now is being selfish. I don’t need to play nine innings right now, when there’s no need. So, take the rest and play smart when you can, because as soon as the season starts, my goal is to play over 155 games.”

– Alden