Despite the crushing news of Shohei Ohtani‘s elbow injury, there may still be a silver lining for baseball fans.

Ohtani, who will not pitch again this season after being diagnosed with a tear in his right ulnar collateral ligament, will continue to DH while he and the Angels consider next steps, according to a Major League source. Neither Ohtani nor the Angels have confirmed that a decision has been made regarding the remainder of his 2023 season.

ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez was the first to report Ohtani will remain in the lineup as the DH until he gets a second opinion on his right elbow. The Angels open a three-game series against the Mets in New York on Friday, the start of a 10-day road trip.

Ohtani had dealt with arm fatigue for several weeks before leaving his Wednesday afternoon start against the Reds after just 1 1/3 innings. Still, he hit his MLB-leading 44th homer and, despite being told his diagnosis between games, Ohtani asked to remain in the lineup as the DH in Game 2’s 7-3 loss and went 1-for-5 with a hustle double in the fifth.

Angels GM Perry Minasian, who made the announcement Wednesday night, said that it was unclear whether the 29-year-old would require his second Tommy John surgery, having already undergone the procedure following his rookie season in October 2018. 

Despite the unique nature of the situation, there is a road map available to the Angels. Ohtani similarly chose to delay surgery in 2018 and thrived at the plate after being pulled from the rotation, posting a 1.003 OPS with seven home runs over his last 24 games.