​Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior was worried. But how worried? He couldn’t say at first.The team had already taken major steps to address Shohei Ohtani’s lingering left knee issue, presenting him with a plan to skip his last start before the All-Star break and have his knee drained that Sunday. And he’d co-signed it.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe swelling in Ohtani’s knee, however, had already been more persistent than the team had first expected. And pitching seemed to irritate it.“I would say, moderately concerned,” Prior eventually said in a conversation with The Times last weekend. “But no more concerned than I probably am with anybody else who’s had to deal with aches and pains. Hopefully, this break and this rest will get it to calm down a little bit, and then we’ll see where we’re at next weekend.”Read more: Shaikin: Love it or hate it: Would the Dodgers’ NL West rivals call a Tarik Skubal trade overkill?Coming out of the All-Star break, the Dodgers face the most pressing question for their second half: Will they be able to manage Ohtani’s knee issue?AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOf course, plenty of other questions loom: What approach will the Dodgers take at the trade deadline? Will the pitchers coming off the injured list in the second half provide enough pitching depth? Can they maintain the best record in the majors?But naturally, Ohtani’s health is tangled up in all those answers.The Dodgers have enough star power and enough of a lead in the division to still make the playoffs without Ohtani replicating his first half on the mound (8-2, 1.79 ERA). And they showed last year that they can win a World Series even if their postseason path begins with a wild-card series.They’d prefer, however, to take a different route, with a strong second half that ensures home-field advantage all the way through the postseason.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“At the end of the day, it’s just trying to expect the best of your ball club,” manager Dave Roberts said before the break. “And with the talent that we have, we expect to have the best record in baseball, and so that’s our standard. And so, what falls out of it is x, y and z. So that’s what we’re playing for.”That’s also what they need a healthy Ohtani for.Workload is part of the equation, and an aspect that’s garnered plenty of attention in Ohtani’s first full season balancing two-way duties since 2023.“I’ve been much more open and watching … his workload, and not just taking for granted that he can be a two-way player, take every at-bat, pitch like a normal pitcher,” Roberts said. “I think that would be unfair. So for me, if anything, it’s just, keep having those conversations with him, bringing them to him, and saying, ‘Hey, this is what we see. This might be a different option, a better option for your best interest and our best interest.’ And I think that with that, he’s responded really well.”A