CLEARWATER, Fla. — Right-handed pitcher Noah Song has transferred his Navy service from active duty to selective reserves and will report to the Phillies’ spring training camp on Thursday, the team announced Wednesday.
Song, 25, was selected by the Phillies from the Red Sox in the major league Rule 5 draft in December. Because he attended the US Naval Academy – graduating in 2019 – he was originally scheduled to serve five years in the Navy. Song asked the Navy in 2019 for a waiver to delay his active duty until the end of his unresolved baseball career, and asked for another waiver in 2022.
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Because Song is on Major League Baseball’s military roster, he won’t be counted on the 40-man roster until Opening Day. If he kicks the team out of spring training, Song will be placed on the Phillies’ 26-man roster. If he is not part of the team, he will be traded or placed on derogation. Song can be placed on the injured list, bereaved list, or paternity list, but he cannot be ruled out.
Song was selected by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2019 MLB Draft. Prior to attending flight school, he posted a 1.06 ERA with 19 strikeouts in seven starts and 17 innings with the subsidiary. low-A of the Red Sox, the Lowell Spinners, in 2019.
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During his four-year collegiate career at the Naval Academy, he posted a 2.37 ERA in 58 games, with 428 strikeouts in 334⅓ innings. He pitched 14 complete games, including nine shutouts. He’s athletic and tall (6-foot-4) and launches in the 96-99 mph range with a plus slider. He also throws a fastball, changeover and curveball.
Song’s selection was not without risk. He hasn’t pitched professionally since 2019. The Phillies will get a better idea of where he is physically on Thursday and through the next few weeks of camp.
Additional plinths
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Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he’s likely to make a decision about reliever Gregory Soto playing in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic in the next few days. Soto has yet to show up for camp due to visa issues. “At some point he has to go to certain games before he goes to the WBC or you put him in danger,” Thomson said. He added that in this case, the team gets information about his participation in the WBC because he has not pitched a match.
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The tentative plan is for pitcher Andrew Painter to make his first appearance in spring training in the middle of next week.
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Michael Plassmeyer will start on the road against the Tigers in Lakeland, Fla. in Saturday’s split-team game and Nick Nelson will start at home against the Yankees. The Phillies will try to get two innings from Plassmeyer.