NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 3, 2026

Teoscar Hernández

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Dodgers - 5, Braves - 3

Q. Dave was just asked about your ability to deliver in the biggest of moments, and he said it's because you're not afraid to fail. So when you're at the plate in those moments and you aren't afraid of failure, what's going through your mind?

TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ: For me, Dave is right. I always talk to him about big at-bats. I really, I don't care if I strike out in big situations. I always want to be the guy to be in those moments. I worked really hard for it, and I think the bigger the moment, the more focused I get.

Just trying to put together a good at-bat for the team. Obviously if I get a good pitch to hit, I just try to put a good swing on it.

Q. When no Dodger player, I think, faced more scrutiny than you and Kyle Tucker for the regular season performances, and you both were honest about your performances at the time, what is it like to finish, you and Tucker, with the Septembers that you did and carry that success into October?

TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ: For me, whatever's in the past is in the past. There's nothing I can do of the things that I cannot get it done in the past. Obviously I was good in the beginning of the season, then I got hurt, and then I got back and I was fighting for my life just to help this team to win games.

For me, it's not about anymore the regular season. It's not about the September that I have. It's about what can I do in an at-bat, pitch by pitch, to help this team win ten more games this year?

Q. What was your reaction when Tucker's ball went out?

TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ: I think I was more happy than him. Obviously, like you said, we've been going through a lot this year, but we stayed together. We have each other's back. We're going to continue to try to do our best and try to do our job so we can keep winning.

Q. What have you learned about Skubal from watching him up close the last couple months?

TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ: He's a competitor. Since the first day he got here, he's trying to give everything that he got for this team. It feels like he's been here forever. The person that he is, the player that he is, the way he works, it just has been awesome not only for him, but for everybody in the clubhouse and the organization to see the way he goes about his business and the dedication that he puts every day.

Q. Can you just kind of describe the calm and confidence it gives you when you can go Skubal today and you know Snell is coming and Yamamoto and Glasnow and what that does for everybody?

TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ: Not confidence, but it just gives you a little bit of break knowing that you have those three pitchers the first three games. But at the same time, it puts you a little pressure, I think if you can put it that way, just to score runs so they can feel better in the game that they have.

Q. How hot did it feel out there?

TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ: Right now it's when I'm feeling how hot it was, that my body is getting all the heat out. Pretty hot, pretty hot.

Q. I know October is a brand-new thing, but how much did your good September help kind of put you -- give you some momentum heading into this?

TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ: It built the confidence obviously. I know what I'm capable of. It was just a matter of time of the work that I was putting in before September, all the routines, all the extra work that I was doing, all the early work that I was doing. It's just about time to have the success that I had in September, and obviously just trying to keep that into October.

Q. Speaking of the heat, there was still 50,000-plus Dodgers fans tonight supporting you guys. Of course you feel it in the moment when you have a big home run like that and you feel the atmosphere. Do you ever get to see the clips afterwards with the crowd rising to their feet and seeing you run around the bases? What does that mean to you?

TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ: Not really, I haven't seen anything, but I know Dodgers fans are the best ones. We saw it in the regular season. We saw it in '24, in '25. I think we see it every day when we go to the field.

But it feels good just to have the support from them. Even though I have a really, really tough regular season until September.