The Phillies have a week to make a decision on Noah Song, their Rule 5 draft pick from the Red Sox. He must be activated from his minor-league rehab assignment by July 28 or they will need to send him back to the Red Sox as per the rules of the Rule 5 draft.
Song is attempting to reach the big leagues after not playing professional baseball for four years due to serving in the Navy.
The 26-year-old will be added to the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate following two appearances in Double-A. The expectation is to see if the right-hander can handle facing more experienced hitters in Triple-A.
Philadelphia would like to keep Song in the fold, but the righty is facing an enormous uphill battle trying to crack the Phillies' 26-man roster.
On Thursday afternoon, reporters asked skipper Rob Thompson if he could imagine carrying Song as the last man out of the bullpen.
“I don’t know,” Thomson said.
Song has pitched in six games in the Phillies system posting a 3.52 ERA with 11 strikeouts and a 1.83 WHIP in 7 2/3 innings. He has not pitched more than 1 2/3 innings in an appearance between Triple-A and Double-A. He allowed two runs on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts in his last outing on the hill. The goal for the former Sox pitching prospect was to pitch two innings on Saturday.
Song tossed two innings on Saturday night against Toledo. He gave up two hits, one earned run and one walk while striking out three batters.
In order for the Phillies to potentially keep Song on their roster, he will need to show he can pitch two innings in a bulk role to make it worth their while.
“It’s been ok,” Thomson said. “You know? He had one really good game and a couple of oks, you know. So we’ll see.”
Earlier this month, Song’s fastball was topping out at 96 mph and averaging 93-94 mph. Recently his fastball is sitting at 90 mph and it’s not known as to why he’s seen that drop.
Red Sox sign top draft picks
Just hours after Kyle Teel signed his $4 million deal with the Red Sox, the former Virginia catcher was taking batting practice at Fenway Park. Teel was peppering the ball all over the ballpark including peppering the Green Monster and hitting balls over the Sox bullpen in right-center.
With the ink dry on his new contract, Teel is looking forward to starting his professional career.
“It felt like a lot of hard work finally coming together, and that's always been my dream to be a professional baseball player,” said Teel. “And my dream is still to be a big leaguer, and signing that contract just ... it was a really great feeling to be able to do that. And it's something I've dreamed about since I've been 10 years old. So this is really, really amazing.”
The left-handed hitting catcher is considered to have an advanced plate approach, which includes hitting for average and power.
“He can really throw. He can really block. He can slide. His hands are good. His framing continues to get better,” said Red Sox director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson. “I think he kind of touches all the boxes for us in terms of what we value from a development standpoint. He fits a lot of things that we value behind the plate.”
Teel‘s agent Scott Boras spoke with the media talking about similarities he sees between the young catcher and Jason Varitek.
“I do in the perseverance,” said Boras. “The idea of wanting to be a big leaguer, do whatever it takes to be one...It’s a hard road for young athletes these days, particularly ones that go to college. (There’s) time management and what they do, playing high-caliber baseball. It really suits them well to be ready for professional baseball and all the demands.
“Certainly all the resources and all the aptitude and all the skills, Kyle has. As I told Tek today, (”Kyle) is a little bit better runner than you were.’”
Nazzan Zanetello and Antonio Anderson signed their contracts with the Red Sox on Saturday afternoon.
Both are expected to take batting practice ahead of the series finale against the Mets on Sunday.
Zanetello received a signing bonus of $3 million, which was above the recommended slot value of his pick ($1.698 million) and Anderson received $1.5 million (above his slot value of $846,000).
With Teel signing under the slot at $4 million, the Sox were able to allocate funds elsewhere amongst their draft picks. Zanetello is believed to have received the largest bonus for a player drafted not selected in the first round.
Marcelo Mayer received the biggest bonus of $6.64 million from the club after he was taken No. 4 overall.
Boston has now signed their top five draft picks and 11 of their top 12. The only unsigned draft pick of that group is Wright State shortstop Justin Riemer.
Trevor Story begins his rehab assignment with Portland
Trevor Story began his journey back to the Red Sox when he started his rehab assignment with the Portland Sea Dogs. Story played five innings at shortstop going 1-for-2 with a three-run home run and a walk. His three-run blast gave the Sea Dogs a 6-1 lead in the fifth inning.
“It felt great, man. It was kind of surreal playing in a real game,” Story said. “It’s been a long time coming. I feel like we’ve put in a lot of work to get to this point. Still not done but definitely a big step in the right direction. I felt like a kid out there again competing and I’ve been looking forward to that for a long time.”
The 30-year-old underwent internal brace elbow surgery back in January and the organization is slowly working up the infielders reps in the field.
Trevor Story looks like he’s feeling good pic.twitter.com/vhg6yGklhm
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 21, 2023
“[The elbow] feels great,” Story said. “We've been doing a lot of trying to simulate game-like throws and that's my bread and butter, throwing on the run like that. Got two balls like that today to break the ice.”
Just two ground balls went to Story during his five innings at shortstop and he looked comfortable fielding them.
Story (0-for-4 on Saturday) is expected to use all 20 rehab days as he gets ready to return to the Red Sox. He’s attributed the training staff for a lot of his progress so far.
“Another step in this whole progression that we have, and it's been seven months since surgery,” Story said. “It's felt really long at times. I feel like now we're kind of to the point where a lot of the fun stuff happens.”
With Story playing shortstop, the Sea Dogs moved Mayer to play third base. All of Mayer’s 165 minor league starts have come at shortstop. He’s also started seven games at DH.
The Sea Dogs had Mayer work out at third base this week in preparation for Friday night’s game. There is a strong chance he will play third again on Sunday when Story returns to the field.
The 20-year-old shortstop is excited to get to play alongside the rehabbing All-Star.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Mayer said. “He’s here for three days so I’m going to do whatever I can to pick his brain. I think I was in middle school when he was hitting bombs at Coors Field. Just the amount of games he’s played more than me, the amount of experience he has that I don’t, I’m looking forward to just seeing how he works, talking to him, soaking it all in and seeing how he handles his business.”
Story is expected to play another five innings at shortstop on Sunday. Once he completes his three-game rehab stint with the Sea Dogs, it’s expected he will join the WooSox at Polar Park next Tuesday.
WooSox turn first triple play in team history
The WooSox turned their first triple play in franchise history in the fifth inning during their 11-6 win over the RailRiders on Wednesday night.
With runners on first and second and nobody out, RailRiders batter Michael Hermosillo hit a hard ground ball to Bobby Dalbec at third base.
Dalbec fielded the play cleanly and stepped on the bag to force out Jake Lamb. He then fired the ball to infielder Nick Sogard at second base to retire Jamie Westbrook. Sogard threw the ball to first baseman Stephen Scott to get Hermosillo to complete the 5-4-3 triple play.
🚨 TRIPLE PLAY 🚨
— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) July 20, 2023
Dalbec ➡️ Sogard ➡️ Scott pic.twitter.com/wvJ82rAJFg
It was the first triple play by a Sox minor league affiliate since the PawSox turned one on April 22, 2018 against the Gwinnett Stripers.
Dalbec has spent the majority of his time with the WooSox this season and in the process has put together a strong season. The 28-year-old is hitting .296 with 75 hits, 58 runs, 22 homers, 54 RBI, 11 stolen bases and owns a 1.021 OPS.
Sogard has also put together a strong 2023 campaign. The 25-year-old started off slow at the plate but shined while David Hamilton was with the Sox. The California native is hitting .292 with 78 hits, four home runs, 37 RBI, 13 stolen bases while posting a .789 OPS.
The switch-hitter has looked like a major leaguer this season offering positional versatility with his glove. Sogard has played five positions this season with games at second base, shortstop, third base, left field and right field.
His play this season has warranted a possible promotion to the big league club, but he has not yet gotten the opportunity.
“As far as what they are looking for, I want to try to be the best player I can every day.” Sogard said earlier this month in Worcester. “I just have to be me. Guys get called up for all sorts of reasons whether it be for an injury or the right place and right time. For my play right now, I just need to be me. As far as the area that isn’t my strength is hitting for power. So, while I am trying to still be me, maybe down the road in the future we will try to figure out how to hit for more power.”
