After one of his starts in August, Red Sox righthander Rick Porcello interrupted a line of questioning about his performance to mention the defense behind him.

“If a ball is in the air to the outfield, somebody is going to catch it,’’ Porcello said. “As a pitcher, that’s a great feeling.’’

Those skills were recognized Thursday when right fielder Mookie Betts and center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. were named finalists for a Gold Glove in the American League.

Second baseman Dustin Pedroia, a four-time winner, also is a finalist.

The winners will be announced on Nov. 8.

Betts would seem like a heavy favorite to win his first Gold Glove. In his first full season in right field, the former second baseman and center fielder led the majors with 32 defensive runs saved according to Fangraphs.com.

Betts also led the American League with 14 assists. The other finalists in right field are Adam Eaton of the White Sox and George Springer of the Astros.

Bradley is a two-time finalist. He lost out in 2014 to Adam Jones of the Orioles. This season, the other finalists are Kevin Pillar of the Blue Jays and Kevin Kiermaier of the Rays. Kiermaier was the winner last season.

Kiermaier led American League center fielders with 25 DRS. Pillar (21) was second and Bradley third (11).

Bradley led the group with 13 assists.

For Pedroia, this season was among his best defensively. He had 12 DRS and was particularly adept going to his left and protecting neophyte first baseman Hanley Ramirez. The increase in his athleticism was noticeable.

Robinson Cano of the Mariners and Ian Kinsler of the Tigers­ are the other finalists. Pedroia’s last Gold Glove came in 2014.

In Red Sox history, only outfielders Dwight Evans (8) and Carl Yastrzemski (7) have more Gold Gloves than Pedroia.

Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.