On Sept. 14, the Los Angeles Dodgers endured a 10-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on the road. It was one of the team’s most lopsided losses of the season, and their fourth loss over their last five games at the time. It wasn’t even the Dodgers’ biggest loss of the day.
On that day, the Dodgers announced that starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow, the team’s Opening Day starting pitcher and one of their prized offseason pickups, would likely be out for the season. Glasnow landed on the injured list because of his injured elbow on Aug. 16, but there was belief that he would return for the postseason before the ruling that day.
The Dodgers would end up holding a team meeting that outfielder Teoscar Hernández says “changed everything.”
“I just wanted to get the guys together,” Roberts recounted. “I’m not a big meeting guy. I just felt that at that point in time, I think we had lost two straight to the Braves. You know, we got news that Tyler was going to be done for the year. And I just got a feeling that there was some kind of a little woe is me, and that’s just not who we are.”
“It was in Atlanta,” Hernández said. “It wasn’t about how we were playing; it was more about when we lose Glasnow, it was that time. It was just a meeting to put everybody’s head up again and just keep pushing until we win everything.”
The Dodgers did not even know they would later be without Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone for the entirety of the postseason at that point. The Dodgers had already dealt with numerous injuries throughout the season, but Glasnow’s season ending brought the team together.
“I just kind of — the message basically was, I can’t believe more in them than they believe in each other,” Roberts said. “They’ve got to believe in themselves, right? And I just felt we have enough talent in the room to do that.”
“One meeting changed everything,” Hernández said. “And then we realized that we have the potential, that we have the players, that we’re still the Dodgers. And we can do special things with the people we have healthy throughout the year and just the opportunity to maintain the team on the top until those guys were able to come back and keep helping the team win.”
After that meeting on Sept. 14, the Dodgers would win the final two games of the series against the Braves. They would win the National League West division again, and claim the No. 1 seed in the NL.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Dodgers fell behind 2-1 to the San Diego Padres. Los Angeles rallied, winning the final two games of the series to advance to the NLCS for the first time since 2021. Even with a thin starting rotation, the Dodgers still tied the postseason record for consecutive scoreless innings, relying on the players they did have available. They have a 3-2 lead in the NLCS over the New York Mets, and are within one win of a World Series berth.
Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
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