'If I could physically do both...

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA — Noah Song, possibly the most fascinating narrative in Phillies camp this spring, didn't pay much attention to last year's postseason. He watched one of the World Series games on TV but had no strong feelings for either side. However, as he finds himself sharing a clubhouse in Clearwater with those South Philly cult legends, he's been rewatching bits and parts of the Phillies' surprising pennant run.

Viewing footage allows him to catch up on a sport that he may have missed. Song, a once-promising fourth-round draft pick who is now a 0-2 Lieutenant Junior Grade in the United States Navy, is watching to learn about his new team and teammates and "because quite frankly," he said Tuesday before a spring training game, "I'm just trying to get back into the pitching experience and mindset of pitching."

Song never really expected to get picked. Growing up outside Los Angeles, he was a lost Minnesota Twins fan pulling for Joe Mauer and dreamt of someday playing professional baseball. Yet he went undrafted out of high school, and Bobby Applegate, the Naval Academy's pitching coach, persuaded him to come to Annapolis for a visit.

On that visit, he lived in the barracks with a student who wanted to pursue a career in aviation. "As an 18-year-old, that sounded wonderful. "I really wanted to go flying." He was well aware that this meant he would be unable to play professional baseball in the future. A scholarship to the United States Naval Academy requires a commitment to at least five years of military duty.

Over the four years Song pitched for the Midshipmen and trained to be a navy pilot, he bloomed into a top-round MLB prospect and established a strong loyalty to the United States military.

The combination of both factors — his pitching promise and his responsibility to serve — led to the Red Sox picking him in the fourth round of the 2019 selection, which was lower than his talent deserved but higher than anybody had ever been selected out of the Naval Academy. Song subsequently pitched in 17 innings of short-season A-ball before heading to flight school in Pensacola, Florida. His baseball career stagnated in the Red Sox organization while he was too busy training in antisubmarine warfare to lament that dual existence.

Rule 5 picks must spend the whole next season on the team's 26-man roster or be placed on waivers. If a player clears waivers, he is assigned to his original team. It would be extraordinary to roster a pitcher with 17 pro innings and a three-year gap in his baseball resume, especially for a competitive team like the Phillies. s. Whether there is some wriggle space in the regulations' nitty-gritty subtleties, as iterated in The Athletic, remains to be seen. n. But the Phillies have already taken a chance on Song's tenacity and aptitude — the same qualities that made him a good match for the Navy — and all they can do now is give him a shot. t.