Phillies shut down Rule 5 pitcher Noah Song with back tightness

The Phillies have shut down Rule 5 pick Noah Song with back tightness, the team announced on Saturday. Song said he started feeling tightness over the past few days, and had an MRI on Friday. He was supposed to throw a bullpen session on Friday but did not out of caution.

Song, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, was drafted by the Red Sox in 2019. Because of his service obligations, he had not pitched in three years prior to the Phillies picking him in the Rule 5 draft in December. A few weeks after the Phillies picked him, Song’s petition to transfer from active status to reserve status was approved by the Navy, allowing him to serve 12 years in the selective reserves — for one weekend a month, and two weeks a year — as opposed to six years full-time.

Because of Song’s lack of regular work over the past three years, he will not be ready to start the season. As of now, the 25-year-old is on the military list and will remain there until opening day. He can be placed on the injured list once the season begins. Because he is a Rule 5 pick, he needs to be on the active roster for at least 90 days (not including rehabilitation time or time on the injured list). If Song isn’t placed on the Phillies’ active roster or the injured list, he has to be offered back to the Red Sox.

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Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that Song looked “comfortable” when he did pitch off a mound earlier this spring. Thomson said his delivery looked good and he had a good feel for all of his pitches. Song estimated that he threw three or four bullpens prior to the injury.

“It happens, I guess,” Song said on Saturday. “It kind of came on gradually. But it was just something that they wanted to be cautious of and be aware of. We’re just going to monitor it as time goes on.”

Song said the Phillies will do a re-assessment of where he’s at in a few days. He said there was no one event that triggered the injury. Song could be placed on either the 15-day or 60-day injured list.

The Portland, Ore. baseball community is small. Phillies pitching prospect Mick Abel estimates that they are only 10 or 15 professional baseball players in the area, and they stay in touch. That is especially true of Abel and Adley Rutschman, who have been working out together over the past few offseasons.

They share the same agent at Beverly Hills Sports Council, and worked with the same pitching coach, Kevin Gunderson. Gunderson encouraged Abel and Rutschman to start throwing bullpens together around 2020. Rutschman is four years older than Abel, so he was able to provide a prospective — especially after making his big league debut last season.

“He’s awesome,” Abel said of Rutschman. “Throughout bullpens, he would vocalize stuff — like this slider is going to play off of this fastball, most of the advice comes after the fact [that] your arm is slowing down on some pitches, this sequences well with this.

“He’s definitely been a resource. As an older player, he’s definitely given me some advice, whether it’s feel wise, or game sense, mentality stuff, what to expect, things like that.”

In April 2022, while Rutschman was rehabbing with the Orioles’ high-A affiliate in Aberdeen, Md., he faced Abel in a game for the first time. Abel was pitching for high-A Jersey Shore. He allowed two doubles against his hometown friend.

“It was funny, we went to breakfast the day before,” Rutschman said. “It was cool to finally see him play because we had never had that opportunity. It felt like we were back home again, facing him.”

» READ MORE: Where the Andrew Painter and Ranger Suárez injuries leave the Phillies’ pitching rotation

Rutschman said he has enjoyed watching Abel evolve over the past few years and during the course of his pro career. The biggest change he’s seen is in Abel’s mindset.

“He’s always had great stuff,” Rutschman said. “But he handles his start days differently than he did when he first got drafted. The prep he’s done in the offseason is different. You see his daily routine when he’s pitching — how he wants to attack hitters, how he wants to go over scouting reports, how he thinks about things when things aren’t going well, how he gets out of that. You can just tell he’s figuring out what he’s doing now and he knows his plan of attack, which is cool to see.”