Albert Pujols is taking care to ensure he stays in Angels lineup

Albert Pujols is 37 and about to begin his third season after an off-season spent recovering from surgery. His life has become an annual cycle of playing through pain, recuperation, and convincing himself he might someday feel great again.

“I feel better,” Pujols said over the weekend at Tempe Diablo Stadium, where the Angels are wrapping up spring training. “I don’t feel 100%.”

Halfway through his 10-year contract with the Angels, he underwent December surgery on the plantar fascia in his right foot. He beat the prognosis, began playing in games March 10 and has hit .323 with two home runs in the Cactus League. Asked whether he retained hope of reaching 100% this season, Pujols said it was his goal.

“I’m pretty excited with where I’m at right now, I can tell you,” the Angels designated hitter said. “I’m putting good swings on the ball. Timing-wise, it’s not there, but we’ve got still a handful of games here before the season starts. Sometimes it’s just one at-bat when it clicks, for me.”

Pujols’ pregame hitting routine remains the same as it has always been in spring training.

“Why would you fix something that’s working?” he said.

He has adjusted his weightlifting regimen, he said, reducing the sheer weight and adding plyometrics, aiming to reduce his risk of another injury.

“This game is already hard. Imagine playing it with injuries,” he said. “Unfortunately, the last couple years, that’s how I’ve been. The thing is that you can’t prevent injuries. All you can do is just work yourself and train yourself. But then after you cross that white line, man, eventually, injuries happen.”

The Angels’ general stance is that Pujols is an asset playing first base, but more so at the plate, and starting him at first base threatens his utility as a hitter. That’s why he played a career-low 28 games at first last season.

That approach will be challenged in the season’s first week, when the Angels open in Oakland. In recent seasons, Pujols has played the field more there than in other cities because of the batting-cage arrangement at the old ballpark. Getting to them requires a trek from the visiting clubhouse, making designated hitting an unpleasant experience.

Pujols said he felt good enough to take the field during that four-game series, but stopped short of committing he would.

He received new orthotics for 2017 that he has broken in this spring. By now, he’s used to the process, although his foot did flare in pain when he used a set that were not properly prepared last August.

“Remember, anytime you do any work on your feet, your feet change, so I can’t now be using the same orthotics that I used last year,” he said. “You have to mold yourself pretty much every year because the shape of your foot’s not the same.”

In September, before he knew he’d need surgery, Pujols said he did not heed the aches and pains of his body enough. He also expressed doubt he’d ever do so.

“It’s hard for me now to try to switch that, because that’s how I grew up,” he said then.

He hit 31 home runs and drove in 119 runs last season, and he was proud of those figures. But his .780 on-base-plus-slugging percentage was nearly the worst of his career, second only to his injury-shortened 2013. He knows his rate statistics could improve if he rested more often.

“It is important, man,” Pujols said of occasional sitting. “One day is worth 10 days, like 10 good days. But it’s just so hard when you have eight guys out there and you feel so guilty when you know you can be out there. Even if you know you’re not 100% that day, when you care so much about something. And I care about this organization. I care about winning a championship for the city of Anaheim.

“Sometimes that drives you even when your body’s telling you that you need it, because your brain is saying, ‘I want to be out there with my guys.’ ”

He was then asked what the long-term solution might be.

“I don’t know,” Pujols said. “We’ll see how it feels during the season and go from there.”

Short hops

In a back-field game Sunday at the Angels complex, right-hander Garrett Richards threw six innings against Colorado Rockies minor leaguers. He did not walk anyone and threw 69 pitches. His fastball was most often clocked at 94 mph. The Angels informed Richards he’ll start Friday in the Freeway Series, which makes Matt Shoemaker their presumed but unconfirmed choice for the coveted opening-day start. “I’m not the only one that doesn’t know what’s going on. We’re all kind of up in the air,” said Richards, the club’s 2016 opening-day starter. “Everything’s a secret.” .. .On Sunday evening, the Angels held a meeting to discuss the composition of their roster.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura