Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández revealed that the Dodgers held a team meeting in September that helped turn around their season. The meeting came after back-to-back losses to the Atlanta Braves, but especially after the team found out they had lost starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow for the remainder of the season and postseason.

Glasnow was already on the injured list due to an elbow injury, but the team initially thought he would return for the postseason. Before that meeting, the team officially learned that they would no longer have Glasnow for the playoffs. The Dodgers named Glasnow as their top pitcher heading into the 2024 season, giving him the start on both Opening Day and the Dodgers’ first series in Seoul, South Korea. Glasnow returned the favor, recording career-highs in starts and strikeouts before his kryptonite and injuries came back to bite him again.

Hernández recalled the Dodgers feeling down headed into that meeting because of Glasnow, but that meeting gave them the boost they needed.

“It was one time when we saw a lot of fans, not from the team but from outside. Everyone was panicking because we had a lot of injuries. We’re losing a lot of pitchers,” Hernández said.

“It was one time when we felt like we were in trouble as a team,” Hernández said. “And one meeting changed everything. And then we realized that we have the potential, that we have the players, that we are still the Dodgers. And we can do special things with the people that we have healthy all year round and just the chance to keep the team at the top until those guys could come back and continue to help the team win.

Since that meeting, the Dodgers have advanced to the National League Championship Series, the first time they have won an NLDS series since 2021. They are within one game of advancing to the World Series and have one win in both games against the New York Mets needed. 6 of Game 7 of the NLCS.

Even with a trip to the NLCS, the Dodgers certainly weren’t perfect. The loss of Glasnow and several other starting pitchers has plagued them at times this postseason. The team’s pitching gave up five or more runs five times this postseason. They also came through with four separate shutouts on other occasions. If the team can rely on the potential they saw in that meeting and pitch well in a few more games, they could very well raise a World Series flag to end the season.