Noah Song returning to Red Sox org after clearing waivers

To say that Noah Song has been through a lot in the last year, would be putting it mildly. At first, he got some good news: he was cleared by the United States Navy to play professional baseball again. Then he got some not so good news: he had not been protected by the Boston Red Sox in the Rule 5 Draft.

Then Song got some more good news, he was taken by Philadelphia Phillies. To top it off, their general manager was (and still is) the one who originally took a chance on him in the fourth round back in 2019 out of the Naval Academy.

Then he got some bad news: he was picked in the major league portion of the draft, meaning he had to remain on their active major league roster for the entire season, go on a rehab assignment if hurt or to put him on waivers. All while only pitching 17 innings of affiliated baseball previously for the Low-A Lowell Spinners.

The catch, however, was that if he was released and cleared waivers, he would have to be returned to by the Phillies to the team they took him from: the Red Sox. Today, just that happpened. Song cleared waivers, and is on his way back to organization that took a chance on him just four years ago, according to a report from Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic.

Song would not comment about anything on the record at this time, but given that he was sidelined a majority of the year with a lower back strain, one can assume his return to baseball in 2023 is up in the air. In addition to this, he also showed signs of being out of practice. With that said, it may behoove Boston to let him rest the remainder of the season after he was shut down by Philadelphia before beginning a rehab assignment in June.

Despite all of this, Song was able to strike out over 16 batters in 10 innings of rehab baseball in Triple-A, Double-A, and even Class-A.

Thankfully, for the Red Sox he does not immediately need to be added to the 40-man roster, and they can take their time developing him, much like they intended to do in 2019 when they initially drafted him.

Whether he returns to baseball this year, or not, he figures to be a name to watch in Boston's ever-burgeoning farm system for the next few years... Again. According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, he will begin the year at High-A Greenville, but look for him to move up quickly.