FORT MYERS, Fla. — He is the young superstar with the warm, fuzzy name and the perfect blend of confidence and character. Mookie Betts is only 23 years old and he hasn’t yet played 200 games in the big leagues but we look at him and wonder if he can be Reggie Smith, Fred Lynn, or Andrew McCutchen.

His career path has been seamless. Raised in Tennessee, drafted out of high school by Theo Epstein in 2011, Betts moved quickly up the Red Sox farm chain and burst on the Fenway scene as a 21-year-old center fielder in 2014.

He’s been able to handle everything. In 197 big-league games he’s hit .291 with 23 homers, 95 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases. In 2015, Betts had 68 extra-base hits — the most for any Sox player in a season before turning 23 since Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr in 1940. Betts was also the hardest player to double up in the majors.

Mookie’s likely to play right field for the Sox this year and the still-employed Bill James projects that Betts will hit 20 homers and score 110 runs with 20 steals.

Meanwhile, Betts has evaded the typical nonsense that traditionally plagues young Boston superstars (remember 20-year-old Tony C?). A few weeks back, Mookie lost track of his golf cart and it ended up in a pond, but he hasn’t been immersed in any serious controversy during his short, stellar career.

“He’s always asking questions,’’ said David Ortiz. “That’s ’cause he just wants to get better.’’

Now we find out that Betts is also a leader. He organized a Sox players’ dinner at the Hibachi Grill in Cape Coral Thursday night and 45 teammates joined him for a team-building feast.

“It’s a new year, new team, and I just tried to accept a role where I can do things with the team,’’ said Betts before Saturday’s workout at JetBlue Park. “Just trying to help out camaraderie, really. That’s all it was. It wasn’t anything too special. Just a team dinner. We all get to go hang out and talk and get to know one another. We have a lot of new faces. I think team chemistry is very important. That’s what makes the good teams great.’’

Nice. It feels like the Sox have come a long way since the “25 players, 25 cabs’’ era, or the days of insufferable Adrian Gonzalez emptying a room while trying to organize a fantasy football league. Most folks would agree that it’s unusual for a player as young as Betts to assume a leadership position in a clubhouse of wealthy veterans.

“You don’t see a lot of guys who are 23 years of age do that,’’ said Sox baseball boss Dave Dombrowski. “I can’t tell you that I’ve ever had a player like that throughout my career. I don’t know of a lot of 23-year-old kids who feel comfortable doing that. He doesn’t do it in a fashion where he’s trying to push himself. It’s just a natural thing for him.

“It’s great to see. I think we’re very fortunate to have him in our organization at the age he is.’’

“I don’t know how the age thing works, I just felt I could do it,’’ said Betts. “I felt I could get the team together for us to go out and eat and it ended up being a pretty good turnout. Just us. No spouses.’’

Who picked up the whopping tab?

“I was prepared for it,’’ said Betts. “I had switched some money over to my account to make sure I could cover it, but the [veteran] guys went in and took care of it.’’

“Mookie don’t have enough money to pay for that dinner,’’ said Dustin Pedroia. “Me and a couple of other guys took care of it. We’re not going to let Mookie pay for dinner.’’

When I suggested to Pedroia that it was a lot for a 23-year-old to initiate a team dinner, the feisty infielder smiled and said, “When I was 23 we were winning World Series! That’s what was going on when I was 23!’’

Having delivered his joke in his inimitable cocky style, Pedroia got serious and said, “Mookie’s the best, man. He wants to be the best. That’s when you know someone’s good. He’s always listening to guys that have been through a lot and you can take good and bad from those situations and go. That’s why everyone’s excited about him because he’s already good. He asks questions, wants to learn and gets better . . . He’s a baseball player. It doesn’t matter what you throw his way.’’

All true.

The Red Sox have a lot of interesting and talented players in their clubhouse. Ortiz is baseball’s Father Christmas, making his farewell tour. David Price is the highest-paid free agent pitcher in baseball history and expected to be the Sox’ ace. Xander Bogaerts is a 23-year-old franchise shortstop who’s already won a World Series. Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval are controversial top-dollar talents trying to get out of the Fenway doghouse. Dombrowski touts catcher Blake Swihart as a potential “foundation-like player.’’

Betts could wind up being better than all of them. We don’t know. It should be fun to watch.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @dan_shaughnessy.