Noah Song allowed to put Navy service on hold, expected to report to Phillies Thursday
Song, who had been petitioning the Navy for years to delay his service, has not pitched professionally since 2019.
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CLEARWATER, Fla. — Right-handed pitcher Noah Song transferred his service with the Navy from active duty to selective reserves and will report to Phillies spring training camp on Thursday, the team announced on 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 U.S. Naval Academy — graduating in 2019 — he was initially required to serve five years in the Navy. Song petitioned the Navy in 2019 to get a waiver to delay his active service until after his baseball career, which was unresolved, and petitioned for another waiver in 2022.
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Because Song is on Major League Baseball’s military list, he won’t be counted against the 40-man roster until opening day. If he makes the team out of spring training, Song will be placed on the Phillies’ 26-man roster. If he doesn’t make the team, he will be traded or placed on waivers. Song can be placed on the injured list, or the bereavement list, or the paternity list, but he cannot be optioned.
Song was selected by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2019 MLB draft. Before he attended flight school, he posted a 1.06 ERA with 19 strikeouts over seven starts and 17 innings with the Red Sox’s low-A affiliate, the Lowell Spinners, in 2019.
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During his four-year collegiate career with the Naval Academy, he posted a 2.37 ERA in 58 games, with 428 strikeouts in 334⅓ innings. He pitched 14 complete games, nine of them shutouts. He is athletic and tall (6-foot-4) and throws in the 96-99-mph range with a plus slider. He also throws a fastball, a changeup, and a curveball.
The selection of Song was not one without risk. He hasn’t pitched professionally since 2019. The Phillies will get a better sense of where he’s at physically on Thursday and over the next few weeks of camp.
Extra bases
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he is probably going to make a decision on reliever Gregory Soto playing in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic over the next few days. Soto has not reported to camp yet because of visa issues. “At some point he’s got to get into some games before he goes to the WBC or you’re putting him at risk,” Thomson said. He added that in this case, the team gets some input on his WBC participation because he hasn’t pitched in a game.
The tentative plan is for pitcher Andrew Painter to make his first spring training appearance during the middle of the next week.
Michael Plassmeyer will start on the road against the Tigers in Lakeland, Fla., in the split-squad game on Saturday and Nick Nelson will start at home vs. the Yankees. The Phillies will try to get two innings out of Plassmeyer.