It turns out Dodgers fans' frustration with plan for Shohei Ohtani was all for naught

While Shohei Ohtani returning to a major league mound for the first time in almost two years was a huge win for the second half of the Dodgers' regular season, it was sort of questionable how much they would let him help them in October.

They didn't let Ohtani pitch past four innings until Aug. 27, his 11th start, and he still only averaged just under five innings from there through his last four starts. They had him lined up to pitch a potential Wild Card Game 3, but it felt like the length wasn't there.

Through the Wild Card, the Dodgers already rode their starting pitchers for as long as possible, given the state of the bullpen. Blake Snell pitched through seven innings and Yoshinobu Yamamoto through 6 2/3, which meant that the Dodgers didn't have to depend on Blake Treinen or Alex Vesia for long stretches (and they completely avoided putting Tanner Scott into a game). They'd need more of the same from Ohtani in Game 1 of the NLDS against a far greater foe.

Sure enough, he pitched six innings against the Phillies on Saturday, giving up three runs while striking out nine batters. While was frustrating to watch the Dodgers treat him with kid gloves through the second half, their patience paid off.

Shohei Ohtani is giving Dodgers length in postseason despite in-season concerns

All of Philly's scoring came in the second inning, when JT Realmuto legged out a triple thanks to an egregious lack of hustle from Teoscar Hernández in left field. That allowed them to score two and then a third on a sac fly. Hernández ended up redeeming himself in short order, when he powered a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh and the Phillies' bats went almost completely silent after their output.

This lines Ohtani up to pitch in a potential Game 5 (though the Dodgers hopefully won't let it get that far) and he reportedly won't be available in relief through the series.

Snell and Yamamoto are once again lined up for Games 2 and 3. If they can do just as well against the Phillies as they did against the Reds, the Dodgers might be looking at walking away with a sweep. At the very least, they put LA in the best position possible to do so. It'll set both of them, Ohtani, and Tyler Glasnow up for an NLCS on a nice amount of rest, at which point the Brewers or Cubs should be very afraid.