FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As the longest-tenured player on the Boston Red Sox, Dustin Pedroia understands and accepts his role as the team's leader.
But he also knows he can't do it alone.
Pedroia was in a pensive mood Saturday as he arrived at spring training for his 13th major-league season. The feisty second baseman spoke for more than 20 minutes about the state of his surgically repaired left knee, the Red Sox's tumultuous 2017 and his outlook for this season. His most insightful comments, though, came in regards to the team's leadership, a popular topic in the 16 months since David Ortiz retired.
A leader mostly by example throughout his career, Pedroia usually appears uncomfortable standing in front of lockers and speaking for teammates. But he noted that the rosters of the Red Sox teams that won the World Series in 2004, 2007 and 2013 were populated by several veteran leaders, from Ortiz and Jason Varitek to Trot Nixon, Johnny Damon, Mike Lowell, Alex Cora, David Ross, Mike Napoli and Johnny Gomes.
"It's not one leader," Pedroia said. "And everybody always says that. It's not one guy in baseball. It's me, it's Mookie (Betts), it's Bogey (Xander Bogaerts), it's Jackie (Bradley Jr.), it's Benny (Andrew Benintendi). It's our team. So, we have to be together and know that."
But most of those players are far younger than Pedroia and seemed unsure of themselves last season when it came to leadership. The Red Sox have several prominent veterans on the pitching staff -- Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello and closer Craig Kimbrel -- but it's difficult for pitchers to lead because they don't play every day.
Pedroia said he saw signs late last season that the younger players were willing to take on more responsibility. In particular, he cited a conversation with Bogaerts, a 25-year-old shortstop, during the workout before Game 1 of the Division Series against the Houston Astros.
"I was sitting in the [batting] cage by myself and I was hurting, and Bogey comes in -- he's the happiest kid ever -- and he said, 'Hey, what's wrong?'" Pedroia said. "I'm like, 'Man, Bogey, I don't know if I can -- I mean, I'm going to be fine to play, but I hope they throw it right down the middle, you know what I mean? And he goes, 'Oh man, you're gonna be fine.' And I go, 'Bogey, see that's what I'm talking about. There are some days when I come in and I need you and we all need each other, so it's OK to be that guy. Let it come out.'
"And I think they're all at a point now where they understand that, and you can see when their personality comes out. Mookie's more vocal; Bogey will be more vocal. Benny, he'll get here. But that's what we need."
Indeed, Betts and Bogaerts spoke up last week and said the Red Sox didn't have as much fun as they should have last year during a 93-win, first-place season. Pedroia took some responsibility for that, admitting he erred in seemingly throwing teammates under the bus in a beanball incident with the Baltimore Orioles.
"It's like everything in life: You make mistakes and then you don't make mistakes," Pedroia said. "I think when you sit back and look at it, could it have been handled differently? Without question."
Pedroia is expected to miss at least the first month of the season after undergoing a cartilage restoration in his left knee. But he said he's "ahead of schedule" and pain-free for the first time since last April.