Young Red Sox lean on veterans' postseason experience

BOSTON — The 2016 Red Sox have a nice mixture of youth and experience in the clubhouse.

It's almost surreal to compare the postseason experience of David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia with the inexperience of Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Andrew Benintendi, among others.

Ortiz has played in 82 games over the course of 17 postseason series. Pedroia has played in 44 games over nine series. The three B's who comprise the starting outfield have played in none.

How the two ends of the spectrum meet in the middle may be the difference in how the Red Sox fare in the playoffs.

"We haven't talked a whole lot about it," said Betts. "I just want to look at it as another game. I don't want to add any pressure, take away anything. I just want to go out and just play the game the same way I've done all year." 

Pedroia understands as the years go by, his leadership in the clubhouse and on the field becomes invaluable.

"We've got a good group," said Pedroia. "All the teams that I've been on here, everybody has different personalities. This team, we've got a lot of good young players and then our veteran guys compliment them well. It's one group. We try to make sure we've got everyone's back every day and play together."

Cox Media Group