FORT MYERS, Fla. — David Ortiz is always on the lookout for somebody to tell his jokes to or to hear some good ones himself, so when he walked up to the Boston Red Sox during stretching Saturday, he thought he found the perfect audience.

But when he caught wind of what the players were talking about, he changed his mind on the spot and doubled down on his hunch that this team is in “beast mode” already about winning another World Series.

“While they were stretching, I was going to go (mess) with them and I took a couple of steps and I was like, ‘Let me just listen to what they’re talking about’ – they were talking about nothing but hitting,” Ortiz said.

“I remember before while you were stretching, you’d mess around, talk trash. These guys are locked in. I was standing up right there just listening to the conversations for about half an hour. Didn’t say anything. They were talking about mechanics, hands, how to approach and this and that.

“What that tells you is that these guys, they’re not trying to miss a beat. They’re not trying to waste their time. They’re in the first week of spring training and you look at what the conversation is, you know what I’m saying?”

The players’ attitude pretty much blew Ortiz away.

“These kids are acting like they finished the season in last place last year. I love that because that means they’re still hungry, they want more and they will not get nothing but better and better and better,” Ortiz said. “I’m happy with what I see, to be honest with you.”

Ortiz and the 2005, 2008 and 2014 teams went 0 of 3 in their repeat bids.

“Repeating is hard but I also think it all depends who comes on board and how tight you keep your ballclub,” Ortiz said. “Injuries play a big role on teams also, so everybody’s healthy here right now, thank God, everybody’s good to go, everybody’s in unbelievable shape, that’s not an issue here – so why not? Why not?

“And the confidence level is even better than last year. You look at these guys. I’ve been talking to the hitters’ side, J.D. (Martinez), Mookie (Betts), (Xander) Bogaerts, (Jackie Bradley Jr.), I had a five-minute conversation with all of them and all they want to do is listen to what I have to say because the feedback is something that you don’t even have to say anything. They are in that beast mode where it’s beautiful. I love seeing that.”

The drive to get better is also exemplified in Betts.

“Mookie, he doesn’t want to be good, he wants to be perfect. That’s what makes him so good, he wants to be perfect,” Ortiz said. “That kid, when he first got here, I don’t know if he learned a lot from me but I learned a lot more from him because his mentality is like a (Dustin) Pedroia type of mentality.”

Suffice it to say, Ortiz is into this group.

“You know how hard it is to put a World Series winning team together – it’s hard,” he said. “I mean, you look at the Los Angeles Dodgers, how much money they spent, how much they chased good players and how they have one of the best pitchers in the game pitching for them.

“Being in the World Series back-to-back years and not winning, that tells you how hard it is to win a World Series. Just watching the guys doing their thing and coming in, I tried not to be in their way much because I respect that, I respect that.”

LEFT-HANDER Brian Johnson was scratched from his start Saturday due to an illness.

ON MONDAY, Pedroia will undergo a full workout. If the veteran second baseman clears that with no issues, he could be set to play next weekend. … Knuckleballer Steven Wright threw from 90 feet Sunday.

THE RED SOX begin a two-day, two-game East Coast swing Monday in Port St. Lucie against the Mets, then to West Palm Beach for the Nationals on Tuesday. Martinez, Christian Vazquez and Rafael Devers will play in both games. Eduardo Rodriguez will start Monday, Hector Velazquez on Tuesday.

RED SOX RELIEVER Ryan Brasier should be ready for Opening Day despite an infected right pinkie toe slowing his progress for almost two weeks.

“That’s the goal,” Manager Alex Cora said. “He’s throwing up to 90 (feet) today. Hopefully, yeah. He should be fine.”

Brasier and Matt Barnes are the top candidates to win the closer job with Craig Kimbrel gone. Brasier posted a 1.60 ERA and 0.77 WHIP in 34 outings (33 2/3 innings) during the regular season. He allowed one earned run in 8 2/3 postseason innings.