FORT MYERS, Fla. — Noah Song was stationed at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville as a member of a Fleet Replacement Squadron for the P-8 Poseidon aircraft in February 2023 when he was about to embark on an intense, no-contact survival training mission. At the very last minute, Song got pulled aside: The waiver he applied for through the Navy nine months prior — the one that would allow him to take leave and pursue a baseball career — had cleared.
“They didn’t give me any hint it was going to be approved and then I was in the middle of survival training and they pulled me out. So it was kind of abrupt when it did happen. I just got pulled out right before the hardest part,” said Song.
The 26-year-old explained all of this as he stood near the Red Sox’s minor-league complex behind JetBlue Park one day last week. It’s been a whirlwind of events over the past 12 months that led him back to the team that originally drafted him in the fourth round in 2019 out of the Naval Academy. And now Song is trying to make a career out of baseball, five years after it started.
Where he begins this season for the Red Sox is still to be determined, but he’s being stretched out for multiple innings and vying for a spot in Double A or Triple A. Diminished velocity, adding strength and physicality as well as an overall need for pitch development are his biggest hurdles to overcome at the moment, but Song is used to tackling a little adversity.
“As far as I’m concerned and our pitching group is concerned, he’s kind of in ‘gen pop’, in a good way,” director of player development Brian Abraham said. “He’s part of the pitching group, he’s part of our minor-league minicamp, he’s a full-go in preparation for the season and his throwing program, and will be part of live BPs and the normal progression for any pitcher.”
The early part of Song’s story has been well-documented, but after a dazzling pro debut in 2019, his Navy duties called and Song disappeared from the baseball map for four years.
After completing his four-year flight school commitment, early in the summer of 2022, he applied for a waiver with the Navy. It was a lengthy process with a complicated form to fill out and a personal statement to write. He didn’t have much guidance. Months passed with no updates.
Meanwhile that December, the Phillies shockingly selected Song in the Rule 5 draft. The Red Sox hadn’t protected Song since he was still in the Navy and there was no telling when his waiver would clear, but the Phillies took a gamble. Two months later, with the waiver approved, Song took a Navy exit course on reentering civilian life and reported to Phillies camp in Clearwater.
Song had to make the Phillies 26-man roster out of camp to stick with the team or be returned to the Red Sox. Amid a rapid ramp-up, Song tweaked his back and was sidelined for two months, delaying the Phillies’ need to add him to the active roster. Once healthy, he began another rapid progression as the Phillies attempted to get him ready to pitch in the majors by the time his rehab assignment ended in late July. Over a month last summer, Song made eight appearances at three different levels — Low A, Double A and Triple A. His command was understandably off, his velocity was down and the Phillies couldn’t justify a spot on the roster so they released him back to the Red Sox.
The Red Sox gave Song a couple of weeks to decompress before assigning him to High A, where he made seven appearances in August and September, trying to find his groove again.
“I kind of felt like I started off behind the curve all of last year and trying to catch on while still trying to work at max effort was really tough to do,” Song said. “The numbers, obviously, didn’t really show very well.”
When the season ended the Red Sox mapped out a plan with Song. As part of his waiver from the Navy,…
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