Shohei Ohtani has Dodgers fans sweating with worrying signs of injury

The Los Angeles Dodgers received quite the injury scare on Wednesday evening. In the bottom of the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds, Shohei Ohtani threw six straight balls, completely losing command of his pitches. He left his start early with a trainer after allowing five hits, two walks and two earned runs in 3.0 innings of work.

This is obviously less than ideal for Dodgers fans. Thankfully, Ohtani was seen in the dugout shortly after, raising hopes that he avoided a serious injury.

Even so, the mere scare is enough for Dodgers fans to advocate for a change in tactics. Ohtani's return to pitching has been extremely slow-moving. This was his seventh start of the campaign and his first attempt to push beyond three innings. Ohtani held an impressive 1.50 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 12.0 innings prior to his outing in Cincinnati, but the Dodgers have been hesitant to fully unleash him after he spent more than a year recovering from elbow surgery.

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Shohei Ohtani injury scare has Dodgers fans sweating bullets

Here were the scenes at Great American Ballpark.

Ideally this is only a minor setback and Ohtani is on the mound again soon. Worst case, it's a more significant elbow problem that puts Ohtani on the sideline for an extended period of time. That is the nightmare scenario for a Dodgers team that can scarcely afford to lose its MVP frontrunner.

The Dodgers are beat up on the pitching front, but the looming returns of Blake Snell, Rōki Sasaki and others means that Los Angeles does not really need Ohtani on the mound. It's a bonus. But if he's forced to miss games altogether and his bat is removed from the lineup, it becomes a more serious issue.

It feels silly to wring one's hands over the Dodgers, a team with absurd talent depth and multiple MVP candidates, but Ohtani is a special offensive force and the heart of this Dodgers lineup. His absence would mean something in the NL West race. God forbid his availability for the postseason come into question.

Thankfully, it appears that L.A. has dodged a bullet.

Shohei Ohtani stays in game after Dodgers injury scare

Ohtani will remain in the game as a DH, per MLB insider Bob Nightengale.

While Ohtani's immediate future as a pitcher is suddenly extremely murky, it doesn't seem like it will impact his ability to stand in the batter's box and deliver results at the plate. That means Dodgers fans can breathe a sigh of relief.