Recently Reacquired Red Sox Prospect Shines In First Outing With Boston Since 2019
It has been a whirlwind of a season for Boston Red Sox pitching prospect Noah Song.
The 26-year-old former top prospect was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Rule-5 Draft, meaning he had to be on a big-league roster all season long or he'd be sent back to Boston.
This was a particularly intriguing choice by the Phillies, as Song had not played professional baseball since 2019 due to his Naval commitment and had never appeared above Low-A entering the season.
The Phillies experiment, which was destined to fail from the start, was extended by a long stint on the injured list (low back strain) but Song returned to the Red Sox organization on Aug. 4 and has started to get his career back on a normal trajectory.
Boston placed Song with High-A Greenville, where he recently made a solid debut. The right-hander posted two scoreless innings without surrendering a hit, recording three strikeouts but did allow a walk and hit a batter.
It remains to be seen how the Red Sox will use Song moving forward but he was drafted with the hopes of developing into a frontline starter. He posted a 1.06 ERA with a 19-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .167 batting average against and 0.88 WHIP in 17 innings for the Lowell Spinners in 2019 when he was last with the organization.
The Phillies' plan to accelerate him as a reliever after taking multiple years off was a horrible idea and the results reflected that.
Song has a 6.23 ERA with a 19-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .240 batting average against and 1.85 WHIP in 13 innings on the year in scattered appearances between four levels ranging from Low-A to Triple-A.
Philadelphia accomplished nothing besides further stunting Song's development but the Red Sox will now have a chance to get him back on track.
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