Jarrod Saltalamacchia has become a veteran presence on a young Miami Marlins team.

Last season, the catcher was the second-youngest starter on the Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series.

"We have a lot of young guys who can play but are still trying to find themselves," Saltalamacchia said of the Marlins. "The league doesn't really know them, so it's fun to see them go out there and just kind of see-ball-hit-ball. That's kind of a Catch-22. In one respect it's good, because you want them to be ... how should I say this? With veteran guys you know what you're going to get. With young guys there are still a lot of unknowns. It's fun for me to watch them go out there and just play the game, have fun, and kind of search for who they are."

Saltalamacchia, who will turn 29 next week, is comfortable with where he is as a player.

"I pretty much know who I am now," he said. "I don't go out there to do more than I'm capable of doing. The best thing about veteran guys is you don't see them trying to be something they're not. They know what they can do with certain pitches and they do it. They also know how to control their emotions. Young guys are still young. They try to prove themselves by doing more.

"When I was in Texas, I would watch guys like Mike Young hit and be like, 'Man, that would be awesome; I'm going to try to do that.' But that wasn't me. I'm not going to be a contact hitter. I'm going to work counts and try to hit gaps. I'm going to have my strikeouts. It wasn't until I got to Boston and talked to Jason Varitek, Dustin Pedroia and some of the other veterans – they said 'Hey, don't get away from who you are.' Dave Magadan was another huge help as far as finding out who I am."