Dodgers Interview: Teoscar on his return to Rogers Centre
TORONTO — Teoscar Hernández kept the tone even and thoughtful at his Media Day scrum. The Dodgers right fielder knows the Blue Jays well, but he treated the matchup like business, not nostalgia. He said the layoff mattered, the clubhouse feels aligned, and the choice he made last winter set up this week in Toronto.
Asked what makes the Jays a challenge, Hernández leaned into the competition. “I’m always thinking that anything is possible,” he said. “If it’s harder, it’s better. If it’s challenging, it’s better for me. I put more dedication to it, more focus.” The history is real, but he pushed it aside: “It’s just baseball… you have to put that on the side and help your team.”
Does familiarity with Toronto help him? He waved it off. “Not really,” he said. “I haven’t been around all those guys too much… I’m ready to face another team.”
Watching the ALCS stirred a few nerves. “I was nervous, honestly,” Hernández admitted. “I had a really good relationship with Seattle and the guys there, and here with the boys.” His takeaway sounded like a veteran happy for old teammates who battled deep into October: “The only thing you can do is watch and be happy for your ex-teammates… it was a fun moment watching it go to Game 7.”
The five or six days between series hit the right balance. “They were huge,” he said. “For a baseball player, a day off is always good, especially now. You don’t want too many because you don’t want to lose the rhythm, the focus and everything.” The Dodgers tried to keep the edge: “We stayed together, we put a lot of work in on and off the field, so our minds stayed in the same place they were when we faced the Milwaukee Brewers.”
He sees a different gear from Toronto in October. “In August they were playing really good… in first place, I think,” Hernández said. “Now you’re going to get the best out of all those players because they’re playing for the trophy. They know four more wins can get that. They’re playing with a lot of energy and dedication.”
As for the Dodgers, he likes the collective feel. “It’s a different group,” he said. “We finally have everybody healthy. Everybody is in good shape, everybody’s confident, and everybody wants to win.” The emphasis is on roles, not headlines: “What can we do as an individual today to help this team win today? Everybody is focused on that. Nobody wants to be the hero. Everybody wants to support each other. That’s one of the biggest things this team has. We’re in a good spot right now.”
Hernández also shared how close he came to a reunion in Toronto last winter. “Really close,” he said. “I think it was between Toronto and L.A. They had priorities as an organization… but I couldn’t wait any longer. I wanted to stay here, and L.A., they’re always looking for players to make the team better, so I made my decision to sign.”
That decision now meets a ballpark he knows, a lineup that’s playing at full volume, and a Dodgers club he describes as healthy and connected. His words kept circling the same idea: accept the challenge, keep the rhythm, and pour effort into the job in front of him. “If it’s harder, it’s better,” he said, and with the World Series opening in Toronto, he sounded ready for exactly that.
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