FORT MYERS, Fla. — No player’s journey through professional baseball is alike, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who has walked a path quite like Noah Song.
Originally drafted by the Red Sox in 2019, Song spent three seasons away from baseball fulfilling his military obligations as a U.S. Naval Academy graduate. Immediately upon his return he found himself being shotgunned to the big leagues by a new organization, only to then run into a series of injury setbacks that cost him most of the next two years.
Now back with the Red Sox, Song has finally settled in to a routine and is enjoying his first normal spring training in nearly seven years.
“This is kind of the first one where I actually knew where I was coming in on day one of spring training,” said Song, who is taking part in big league camp as a non-roster invitee. “There were no surprises, I guess, all the information was given up front, so it’s been really nice in that sense to know what I’m getting into and go try to make the most out of it.”
Once viewed as a potential first-round talent, Song slipped to the fourth round of the 2019 MLB Draft in large part due to his service commitments. Song appeared in seven games that summer for the Lowell Spinners and pitched for Team USA in that fall’s Premier12 Tournament, but after that, his request to delay his active service time was denied and he was ordered to report to naval flight school.
Following his graduation from flight school, Song submitted another waiver request that would allow him to resume his professional baseball career. He hoped to potentially return to the Red Sox in time for the 2023 season, but while that request was pending he was thrown a curveball when the Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft.
Since Rule 5 players must spend the entire season on the big league roster or be offered back to their original club, the Phillies were making a bet that if Song’s waiver cleared he could tap into his potential and impact the team even after his extended time away from the sport.
So when Song’s request was finally approved that February, he found himself immediately thrown into the fire. He arrived at Phillies camp with a chance to realize his big-league dream, but the quick ramp up proved too hard on his body and he suffered a back strain that landed him on the injured list.
“That one was really not only a last minute thing but my body wasn’t exactly ready for that yet, and I think my back really showed that,” Song said.
Song was eventually returned to Boston and finished the season at the more developmentally appropriate High-A level, but he suffered another injury setback and missed all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. He didn’t get back on the field again until last May, and from there he settled in at Double-A Portland, where he posted a 4.19 ERA over 43 innings in his first extended work with a single professional affiliate.
That was enough to earn a late-season promotion to Triple-A, and now Song is among 13 pitchers competing for a big league job as non-roster invitees.
“This is a pretty awesome experience,” Song said. “It’s a pretty good group of guys. It’s pretty awesome always to see every spring training how fast guys kind of gel together and get to know each other, so that’s always a good thing. This is also my first time seeing this clubhouse and seeing the inside of it.”
While Song served his country and battled through injury, many of his peers established themselves among the game’s brightest stars. The 2019 draft class included standouts like Bobby Witt Jr., Corbin Carroll and Adley Rutschman and Red Sox teammate Tanner Houck, who played with Song on the 2019 USA Premier12 club, has already played six seasons in the majors.
Does Song ever wonder what might have been if he’d taken a different path? He says he harbors no regrets.
“Everybody has a different journey, everybody has different ways of going about things,” Song said. “I’m where I’m at because of the choices that I made to get here, but at the same time I’m proud of them and I’m happy for it, and at the end of the day I get to be 28 playing baseball, and not a lot of 20 year olds can even say that.”
Besides, even after all these years, Song’s big-league dream is still within reach.
Song appeared in his first Grapefruit League game with the Red Sox on Monday, tossing a scoreless inning while topping out at 95 mph. He also pitched in Friday’s exhibition game against Northeastern University, and manager Alex Cora said pregame Monday he liked what he saw.
“The last one was a good one,” Cora said. “He threw strikes, secondary pitches were really good and now against big leaguers do the same thing.”
As a non-roster invitee Song faces long odds of making the Opening Day roster and will most likely open the season at Triple-A. But given the Red Sox’s lack of bullpen depth and the roster churn inherent to any MLB season, Song will have a good chance to make his MLB debut at some point in 2026 if he can stay healthy and continue trending upward.
And should that happen, it would close the loop on one of the most unlikely journeys any big leaguer has ever taken.
“At the end of the day my goal is to compete at the highest level that my ability can allow me to play at, whatever that may be,” Song said. “As of right now it’s hopefully something that is going to be a little bit higher level.”
