Noah Song is waving goodbye to the seas with the Navy and is ready to join the Philadelphia Phillies, who he plans to visit at spring training on Thursday, according to ESPN.
After transferring from active duty to selected reserves, Song, 25, has hopes to make to the majors after a pitching hiatus since 2019. The right-hander was selected by the Phillies in December’s Rule 5 Draft for $100,000 from the Boston Red Sox.
In 2019, Song was denied a waiver from the Department of Defense to leave behind his military requirements and has served ever since. His recent move to selected reserves creates an opening to resume his baseball career only having to serve for one weekend a month.
For Song’s hopes to be fulfilled, the recent World Series runner-ups would have to give him a spot on the 26-player roster for the full 2023 season. It will be a challenge for Song to make the Phillies, who have a bullpen of power arms, including Jose Alvarado.
During Song’s college career at Navy, he had 428 strikeouts, plus an ERA of 2.37 over 58 games and 334 ¹/₃ innings played. He hit his stride senior year, posting a career high 161 strikeouts and career low ERA of 1.44. Though Song didn’t have a scouting profile, he still caught the attention of Boston, which signed him under the pretense of the unpredictability of his career in the Navy.
Song was drafted as the last pick in the fourth round, 137th overall, for below the $406,000 slot value. He had 19 strikeouts and a 1.06 ERA over just 17 innings and seven games in his brief stint in the Low-A minors.
If things don’t work out with Phillies, Song could be traded to another franchise or placed on waivers, allowing any team to pick up the pitcher and see where he fits within their rotation puzzle. If no other team wants him, the pitcher could return to Boston for $50,000 and be sent to the minors once again.
