Dustin Pedroia can already feel his offseason workouts paying off in the form of improved speed.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The line of questioning to Dustin Pedroia stemmed from a few home-to-seconds, and second-t0-homes.

Do you feel faster this year?

“Yes,” the second baseman said with a one-word exclamation.

Do you think you can steal 30 bases this year?

“Maybe. I don’t know. If those situations present themselves 30 times, then yes,” he said.

So you are going to go 30-and-0 when it comes to steal opportunities?

“Never know. The UConn women’s basketball team went 72-0, so anything is possible,” Pedroia said.

Joking aside, improved mobility is the one thing that Pedroia feels has truly been added to his game this time around. In 2009 he noted that his legs felt heavy for much of the season. The Sox’ No. 2 hitter was well on his way to surpassing his career-high of 20 steals — having notched 14 in the first three months — but then a groin injury slowed him down and once again Pedroia had to settle for 20 swipes.

So this offseason he took it upon himself to change things up, training with former NFL player Keith Poole and focusing on his legs more than anything.

“I just feel like I’m running better,” he explained. “I feel strong, I feel fast. That’s what I worked on. I changed everything in the offseason, my lifting. My main goal was to get faster and get quicker and I think I did that.”

“I don’t know if he’s faster, but he’s moving better,” said Red Sox strength and conditioning coach Dave Page. “I know that was a focus for him in in the offseason and you can tell it has paid off. He’s usually pretty intuitive with that stuff.”

The payoff has come in the first few games, when Pedroia has been noticeably quicker around the basepaths. The satisfaction has come from both how he has felt sprinting from base to base, along with his teammates’ observations.

“[Kevin Youkilils] hit a ball in the gap, I went first to home and I felt like I was moving,” he said. “I get in the dugout and Jacoby [Ellsbury] was like, ‘Man, you’re running really good.’

“It will translate into a lot more things. Speed kills. Speed never takes a day off. Never does.”

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