Fascinating Red Sox Prospect Gets Awful News Ahead Of 2024

Red Sox prospect Noah Song just can’t buy a break.

Unfortunately for the 26-year-old pitcher, his roller-coaster career just hit a new low, as he needs Tommy John surgery, according to multiple reports.

SoxProspects.com’s Chris Hatfield reported the diagnosis, and The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier confirmed the news with a second report.

The Red Sox put Song on the 60-day injured list earlier Wednesday.

It’s awful news for Song, who has struggled to put together a consistent professional career by no fault of his own. The Red Sox took a chance on him, drafting the right-hander in the fourth round of the 2019 draft out of the Naval Academy. He hit the ground running with an impressive start to his professional career when he struck out 19 in 17 innings with Lowell back in 2019. However, he lost his entire 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually had to leave baseball to attend Navy flight school.

Then, after he was able to return to pro ball, the Phillies selected Song in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. The Phillies needed to keep Song on their 26-man roster for 90 days to start the season and seemingly skirted the rules by placing him on the 60-day injured list. Song appeared in eight minor league games across three levels in Philadelphia’s farm system before the Phillies ultimately decided to designate him for assignment, a move that returned him to the Red Sox.

Song then pitched seven games (six starts) for Greenville in High-A where he went 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA while striking out 15 and walking 11 in 21 2/3 innings. The control was an issue again this spring, with Song making three Grapefruit League appearances, walking three and throwing a wild pitch in just 2 2/3 innings.

“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 admitted in an interview with The Athletic earlier this spring. “The numbers, obviously, didn’t really show very well.”

All of that was to be expected, of course, and 2024 could have been a very important season in Song’s progression. He probably would have started the season at Double-A Portland but will instead go under the knife and begin a lengthy rehab process.