Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect Noah Song has been transferred from active duty to Navy Reserves, allowing him to report for spring training on Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Song was selected by Philadelphia in the Rule 5 draft in December after the Red Sox – who drafted Song in the fourth round in 2019 – left him unprotected.
- He had previously been denied a waiver request to delay his service requirements by the Ministry of Defense in 2019.
- The 25-year-old right-hander posted a 1.06 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 17 innings over seven starts with Boston’s Class A affiliate Lowell in 2019.
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What’s next for Song?
This is one of the more unusual list situations in recent memory. The Phillies paid Boston $100,000 to recruit Song in the Rule 5 draft, unsure when he might report to them or what kind of pitcher he would be when he was allowed to play professional baseball again. But Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations for the Phillies, was leading the Red Sox in 2019 when Song was drafted in the fourth round. He would have gone higher if teams hadn’t been scared off by his possible military service obligations. The Phillies decided it was a risk worth taking.
Now Song faces an arduous task in the coming weeks. The Phillies can keep him on the military roster until Opening Day, but then he would be subject to the stipulations of Rule 5, which means he must spend the entire 2023 season on the Phillies’ active 26-player roster. . The team has seven locks in the bullpen and prefers eighth place to be filled with pitchers who can be sent back and forth to the minors. The song is not that.
The timing of Song’s reinstatement makes things trickier. The Phillies have time to evaluate him this spring. Maybe he starts the season on the injured list if he’s not deemed ready to pitch competitively after so long away from the sport. It’s also possible the Phillies could trade Song to a better-equipped team to put him on their active roster during the 2023 season.
Either way, it turned into an interesting spring storyline. — Gelb
GO FURTHER
Noah Song is returning to professional baseball, but will he eventually return to the Red Sox?
What this means for the Red Sox
Chances are Song’s return to pro baseball will have a far greater impact on the Red Sox than on the Phillies. To believe he can stay as a Rule 5 pick is to think he can essentially go straight from college to the big leagues, and do so after taking three years off.
The song was last performed in the fall of 2019, the same year he was retired from the Naval Academy. Even if the Red Sox had known he would return to pitch this season, it’s hard to believe they would have put him on their 40-man roster after so long away from the sport. — Jennings
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(Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)