LOS ANGELES — Regular-season success feels like a given around these parts because the Los Angeles Dodgers have created an ecosystem in which anything less than a 14th consecutive postseason berth feels unfathomable.The reigning back-to-back World Series champions own baseball’s best record at the All-Star break, at 61-36. Their plus-149 run differential also tops the majors. The Dodgers had not been swept all year until the Arizona Diamondbacks took three in a row from them to end the first half. They are not infallible, but with less than a month until the trade deadline, they don’t have an obvious hole on the roster.“I think overall it’s been really good,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Certainly, the record speaks to it.”The Dodgers expected to be a good regular-season club. This club’s legacy will be defined by whether they can become the fifth team to bring home a third consecutive World Series title. Neutralizing this Death Star juggernaut requires finding the thermal exhaust port. The next few months will determine where that is for the Dodgers.These are the most pressing second-half storylines for the Dodgers:How the Dodgers manage Shohei OhtaniShohei Ohtani swung at the first pitch he saw on Sunday and sent it over the fence, so he only had to jog around the bases. He cruised into second base for a double in his second at-bat. Only in his third at-bat, when he tried beating out an infield single, did the most important player for the Dodgers show any signs of discomfort as he hobbled back to the dugout.His knee has been bothering him for a month, and prompted the Dodgers to skip his final pitching start of the first half. Ohtani went directly from Dodger Stadium to get his knee drained and likely get a pain-killing injection after Sunday’s game, a planned course of action to maximize the All-Star break.Ohtani said the other ailments he’s had this season, including a blister and some biceps tightness, are normal wear and tear of the season. This issue is different. Ohtani reportedly told Japanese media the discomfort centers on his kneecap. Ohtani had surgery in 2019 to address a bipartite patella that he was born with.The hope is that the course of treatment during the All-Star break knocks out the pain entirely. Ohtani will still need to be managed carefully. He has faced 340 batters as a pitcher and made 406 plate appearances as a hitter, giving him 746 times where he’s been directly involved in the game in the first half. In 2023, his last year as a full-time two-way player, he had 1,130 such interactions total.What Ohtani is doing on both sides of the ball is remarkable. Making sure he can do it in October is paramount.