Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, and Brock Holt all know what they’re capable of.

They’ve seen Bradley charge in from deep center field and snag a ball at his shoestrings to save an extra-base hit. They’ve seen Holt slide to snare a ball in the corner and pop up to gun down a runner at second for a double play. They’ve seen Betts leap to keep a scoring line drive from becoming a triple.

The highlight plays they’ve put together this season don’t surprise them. At this point, if there’s a play to be made, they don’t just want to make it, they expect to.

“It gets to the point now where, if we don’t make the play, we expect so much of each other, I think all three of us, that any play out there we expect each other to make that play,’’ Betts said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, I hope he catches that ball on the Wall.’ It’s like, if he doesn’t catch it, you’re not necessarily disappointed, you just expect so much of each other. That’s just kind of how we go. We expect a lot out of ourselves being able to cover a lot of ground and make some of those plays.’’

With the way Betts took to center field, Bradley’s natural gifts, plus Holt’s emergence as an All-Star, the trio came into the season with the possibility of emerging as one of the top defensive outfields in baseball.

It’s a conversation they want to be in, Bradley said.

“We take pride in it,’’ he said. “We want to definitely be the best defensive outfield. We just want to be the best in general. That’s just the mind-set you have to take each and every single game, and I feel like with that mind-set, you’re not going to ever cut yourself short.’’

They’ve made enough plays early in the season to put themselves in the conversation. Only three teams in the majors had more outfield assists than the Red Sox coming into Sunday night’s game against the Yankees. Holt has two double plays from the outfield, enough to give the Sox a tie for the most in baseball. The three cover ground, save runs, and, at the same time, take chances.

Bradley can look to either side of him in the outfield and see the reasons he’s more than comfortable taking risks.

When a ball goes screaming through the alley, seemingly destined to dent the F.W. Webb sign on the Green Monster Bradley’s left with a choice between playing it off the Wall or making a leap for it.

The choice is easy.

“Why not?’’ he said.

If he can climb the Wall to make a grab, it swings a game. If he can’t come up with it, he knows Holt or Betts will be there to back him up.

In Holt’s first full season playing with the Monster behind him, he’s gotten comfortable enough to take chances, too, knowing Bradley will be near.

“I’m starting to learn the Wall pretty good, so I feel like I’m good at playing balls off the Wall, but even if I don’t, I know Jackie’s going to be there to back me up,’’ Holt said. “So I can take more risks and vice-versa with him in left-center field. If he wants to go try to make a play on a ball that’s supposed to hit the Wall, he knows that me and Mookie will be there.

“So it’s about having trust in the guys you’re playing next to. Jackie’s one of the best in the business at playing center field, and Mookie was one of the best playing center field last year and he’s in right field now. So those are a good two guys to have out there with you, for sure.’’

From foul line to foul line, they are each other’s safety net.

“That the thing,’’ Betts said. “Knowing each other, I can dive for balls because I know [Bradley’s] going to be there behind me. Or he knows he can jump against the Wall because me or Brock or [Chris Young] will be right there behind him. So with those big risks comes rewards, and if he catches some of those balls, those will be some huge outs.’’

Back in March, MLB.com made a list of the Top 10 outfields in baseball. The Sox were on the outside looking in at teams with brand names like the Pirates with Andrew McCutchen, the Angles with Mike Trout, and the Marlins with Giancarlo Stanton.

Bradley and Betts stumbled across the list last week. Betts said that they don’t compare themselves with other units.

“We just do our own thing,’’ he said.

But they noticed the omission.

“We can use that as motivation and try to get on there,’’ he said.

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.