Red Sox youngster Noah Song will begin the season on the injured list, with Chris Hatfield of SoxProspects.com reporting that the right-hander is set to undergo Tommy John surgery. He’ll be joined on the shelf to open the season by southpaw Brandon Walter, who per Chris Cotillo of MassLive is nursing a strained rotator cuff in his left arm.
Neither Song nor Walter were expected to open the season in the majors, but the twin injury updates are nonetheless a brutal blow for the club’s pitching depth at the upper levels of the minor leagues. Song, 26, is perhaps the more well known of the pair despite not yet having made his major league debut. The right-hander was one of the more well-regarded hurlers in the 2019 draft but fell to the Red Sox in the fourth round due to his military commitments as a Naval Academy cadet. He made just seven starts in the Red Sox organization before missing the next three seasons while fulfilling his military duties, though he was moved to the naval reserve prior to the 2023 season, allowing him to return to professional baseball.
The Phillies took the opportunity to select Song in the Rule 5 draft that offseason and remained in the organization for the first several months of the 2023 campaign, though he made no appearances at the big league level after beginning the season on the injured list due to a low back strain. Song made his return to a minor league mound in late June and struggled badly with Philadelphia, posting a 7.36 ERA in 11 innings of work across three levels of the minors before the club decided to designate him for assignment in late July.
Song was promptly returned to the Red Sox, and he finished the season strong with a solid 4.15 ERA in 21 2/3 frames at the High-A level down the stretch. Song appeared likely to open the season at the Double-A level for Boston this season, which could’ve potentially put him back on the big league radar at some point this year. That won’t come to pass now, however, as he figures to miss the entire 2024 campaign and perhaps some of the 2025 season as well while rehabbing from surgery.
Walter, 27, was a 26th-round pick by the Red Sox in the 2019 draft and made his big league debut with the club last season. The lefty struggled badly through nine appearances in Boston, pitching to a 6.26 ERA in 23 innings of work. His peripheral numbers indicated that his performance was better than the results indicated, as he posted a 4.60 FIP that was closer to league average. Walter’s numbers at the Triple-A level were similarly mediocre, as he threw 94 innings of 4.60 ERA ball while striking out 21.3% of batters faced.
Despite those uninspiring results, the lefty figured to provide the Red Sox with upper-level pitching depth capable of pitching out of the rotation and the bullpen behind fellow lefties Joely Rodriguez and Brennan Bernardino, though now he’ll be out of action for the foreseeable future. The club still has not only Bernardino but also arms such as Cooper Criswell and Zack Kelly available as depth options on the 40-man roster who can be called upon to supplement the big league club as needed, however.
Feel so bad for this dude.
Any relation to Brian? Ahahaha!
Lol
Poor guy
With any luck, he will be pitching next year.
Guess that’s the swan song for Noah’s season
♪ Sad Song♫ This sucks as I was hoping to see him in high minors and maybe push through at the end of the year
in his final year in college song had a 1.44 era and 161 k’s in 94 ip
in his first season in the minors his era was 1.06
and then the navy refused to let him out for 4 years
by the time he came back to baseball at age 26, his era was 5.23
and now he’s out with TJ
what an unfortunate story
well he can always go back to the navy i guess
he’s still in the navy reserves
but from what i’ve read, he’s not pleased they forced him to remain in the navy for 4 years instead of allowing him to leave to play ball. im not sure he has a future in either of those worlds. maybe tries to coach?
He was a couple years too early.
Transfer portal would’ve saved him like it did Paul Skenes.
The Navy should have a deferral plan for athletes. I admire and respect the commitment, but having guys like Song and Robinson recruiting for you will help you get the best and the brightest.
The purpose of the US Naval Academy is to train officers to defend the United States, not to train professional baseball players. Song knew that when he enlisted and any “displeasure” he has is sour grapes. He has no reason to complain.
Agreed. I never saw him complain.
Never saw him complain? Do you know him personally that you know this? Ive read interviews with him. He applied for waivers to leave navy several times & was rejected. Finally after 4 yrs they approved him to return to milb. “ as years went by the reality of baseball became further & further away”
Anyway sad story. Speedy recovery noah!
I have never seen any quotes of him complaining. What you just posted is not a complaint in my opinion.
not to train professional baseball players.
==========================
I consider it a way of adding value. The navy probably has a ton of guys that can work on ships, but probably have almost no one that can go out and recruit students.
He signed those papers
Lot of injuries to Red Sox pitchers this off-season.
Joe – It’s happening with every team, not just the Red Sox.
TJ surgery is a normal thing now. I’m disgusted how it is so common now. They need to change the game or something because it never used to be a problem and now it’s happening nearly every other article.
Whenever I see rookies come through, I keep saying “when is it going to be their time for TJ surgery?” Honestly, it’s like getting wisdom teeth pulled these days
There has been an arm’s race between improved instruction and talent assessment leading to more advanced hitting and pitching quality. Hitters have little choice but to sacrifice all-around ideals (such as minimizing strikeouts) to focus on maximizing value per plate appearance, and likewise pitchers have no choice but to operate close to 100% all the time (whereas, in the past, pitchers paced themselves). Pitching has gone from a marathon to a sprint in games.
So, what is baseball supposed to do? Limit the quality of hitting? Urge pitchers to not throw as close to max and then get hit around more?
The now normal TJ surgery is due to the fact of pitchers never being instructed to pitch with in a true wind up using their legs to propel them through the pitching motion. Everything is arm motion only; Nolan Ryan said years ago to Tom House, ” I throw harder when I lift my leg higher, go put that in your computer.” He was an advocate of leg strengthening to protect his throwing arm. Add into this the time clock for pitchers and soon EVERY MLB pitcher will have TJ surgery.
They make 16 yr olds throw 100
Then sit them half the season during their first couple of yrs in pro ball
Then they go down with elbow issues
Tms dont care. They wear these young kids out
I hear Manfred has developed a committee which has come to a resolution on pitching injuries: when pitchers pitch, they get injured.
So, Manfred has come up with an ingenious solution to prevent pitcher injuries: all teams will use pitching machines. This will also alleviate the need for computerized strike zones.
Manfred…. A true HOFer.
Hey Clip – I believe the pitching machine is an actual possibility, sadly. Manfred has ruined this great game.
Hey Bob Dylan!! You writing a book?
“No, a song.”
This guy has put in less than 50 innings of pro ball in five years and now won’t be able to pitch again until he’s, what… 28 years old? I feel so bad for him.
schwen – It’s definitely a sad what-if story, but life is about choices and he valued his military career more than his baseball career. He wasn’t drafted, he volunteered. At least he will have the military to fall back on if his baseball career is just about over. I wish him well.
This will make him even better
Foolish Baseball pointed out Song as a real-life example of an OOTP storyline. Sadly, it’s not a great one so far. Pulling for him in the future.
Hoping this Song makes it to the big Dance
We are all hoping the best for him. I really was hoping the Tiger would have taken him and wasn’t surprised “the Dom” did. Detroit has a Naval Reserve Center. It might have been convenient. A few well placed phone calls….. Still hope he gets his chance to shine.
Lol….Meanwhile, the elderly writers continue to be weisenheimers…..
Too much, too soon.
There is a naval reserve center in quincy as well..11 mi away from boston..dont think that mattered
Sad that Philly took him in rule five and the kid pushed too hard and got hurt… that might have ruined him. Can’t really blame him for serving his country, but to be honest that really hurt his development also. Wish him the best!
DD got him some cash.
I said this at the time. This was despicable on DD’s part. If the Nats or the As or KC claimed him, such is the world of Rule 5 guys. They could keep him in the BP training with the team and throwing an inning here and there.
There was a -0- chance that DD was keeping Song on the roster for a full year. A team like the Nats could pick up Ward even knowing he wasn’t ready. It was probably a good investment regardless of the results.
But a contender was never going to give away a precious roster spot for someone who had no chance on contributing.
Hopefully, Song takes his time, fixes EVERYTHING, and maybe hits our BP in 2026.
1o0% petty on Dumbos part
“youngster”?
but the twin injury updates are nonetheless a brutal blow for the club’s pitching depth
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It’s not a brutal blow by any stretch of the imagination. It hurts a little for 2025 and beyond, but there was no assurance Song would ever be a professional pitcher at his age and development.
Hopefully he returns late 2025, and gets a cup of coffee in 2026, followed by 6 years of low-end, Brasier-like BP career. Even that would put some serious coin in his pocket.
What would have happened if he walked away from the Navy during those 4 years? Would he be arrested?
Probably for being AWOL. It’s hard to get out. Maybe he could have screwed up on purpose and got a dishonorable discharge.
The Phillies and Dumbo selecting Song and pushing him last year really was a selfish disservice to him.
Guys like Noah who can become a navy pilot can absolutely 100% make it back. Prime years of 27 to 33 is his window. If he maintains a constant safe progression in recovery and is 100% healthy he is fully developed physically and should be able to regain his dominance once he fine tunes the command and control. I think personally he’ll put it all together and be a force in Fenway Park for years to come.