Song, in Phillies camp, knows challenges ahead

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Noah Song has no illusions of the challenges still ahead as he approaches the end of his first week of spring training after joining the Philadelphia Phillies from the U.S. Navy.

Dressed in white pinstripe pants and a red batting practice jersey with No. 52 and his name on the back, the 25-year-old right-hander threw 25 pitches on Tuesday during his second mound session since reporting to camp Thursday.

“It’s a work in progress, for sure,” Song said of the session, which was watched by Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and manager Rob Thomson. “It’s far from perfect, and I’m just hoping for an upward trajectory. Just trying to continue to get some improvement every day.”

Song walked onto the field at 10 a.m. to stretch and throw, looking the part of someone bidding to make the Opening Day roster.

But the adjustment period is ongoing.

“I feel like I’m trying to be a baseball player again, I guess,” Song said. “It’s hard when you’re around the competition level these guys are. I’m just trying to keep my head above water right now.”

Song had been a flight officer training on a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in northeast Florida before the Navy granted a transfer from active duty to reserves.

“He looked like he’s got a feel for all his pitches, but he’s still building up,” Thomson said. “So really, there’s no evaluation other than he’s healthy. Not commanding his pitches but just a feel for them, being able to throw strikes and spin the ball. He looks like he can do that.”

The Navy’s decision allowed him the chance to try to regain the skills that were impressive during his only pro season in 2019 when he made seven starts for Boston’s short-season Class A Lowell affiliate, striking out 19 in 17 innings with a 1.06 ERA. With a fastball in the upper-90 mph range, he went 11-1 with a 1.44 ERA and 161 strikeouts in 94 innings during his senior year at Navy.

“I think that it’s definitely just way too early to tell,” Song said. “There’s so much that needs to get done for me, right, that it’s not something I could really project.”

Song was taken by the Phillies from Boston in the winter meeting draft for unprotected minor league players in December. He was selected by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2019 amateur draft when Dombrowski headed Boston’s baseball operations.

Song is not getting any special treatment in the clubhouse. His locker is one of four temporary ones in the middle of the room.

After his workout, he sat at his locker in shorts and a T-shirt working on his glove.

Regardless of the ultimate outcome, Song is having fun right now.

“These guys create a very good environment,” Song said. “Definitely, the fun is not an issue right now, that’s for sure.”