Pitcher Uwasawa acquired

SEATTLE — The Red Sox added to their pitching depth on Wednesday, purchasing 30-yearold Naoyuki Uwasawa from Tampa Bay, according to the Rays.

Uwasawa played 11 seasons in Japan before signing a minor league contract with the Rays. He had a rocky spring training, giving up 14 earned runs on 15 hits and 8 walks over 9„ innings. He did not make the team.

Uwasawa triggered an assignment clause in his contract, which led to his being traded.

The Red Sox have not yet announced the trade or the corresponding move to place Uwasawa on the 40-man roster. A source said Uwasawa will not be added to the 26-man roster.

Uwasawa was a starter in Japan, playing nine seasons for the Nippon Ham Fighters. He was 70-62 with a 3.19 earned run average and pitched 170 innings over 24 games last season.

Uwasawa has a modest fastball but compensates with good command and an array of offspeed pitches. He would give the Sox added rotation depth.

Surgery for Song

Noah Song, the Naval Academy graduate who once ranked among the top Red Sox prospects, will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the 2024 season, according to a major league source.

Song, 26, was considered one of the top pitchers in the 2019 draft when the Sox took him in the fourth round, where he landed after uncertainty about whether he’d be able to pursue a baseball career given his military obligations.

The righthander spent the summer of 2019 with the Lowell Spinners but was unsuccessful in getting a deferment of his service commitment. He was in an aviation training program from 2020-22, and in December of 2022, the Phillies selected him in the Rule 5 draft — meaning they would have to keep him on the major league roster through 2023 or offer him back to the Sox.

On the cusp of spring training in 2023, the Department of Defense granted Song permission to pursue a baseball career. However, he was injured in spring training, and when he worked through a midsummer minor league rehab assignment, it became clear he wouldn’t be ready to compete in the big leagues.

Song was offered back to the Sox and rejoined their minor league system at the end of last season.

Unsurprisingly, after almost four years away from baseball, his stuff and control were not what they had been in 2019, when he showed a mid- to upper-90s fastball as the anchor of a four-pitch mix. Across four minor league levels in 2023, he logged 32 innings in 15 games, posting a 5.23 ERA with 31 strikeouts and 21 walks.

He showed improved velocity in Red Sox camp this spring before suffering an arm injury that will now require season-ending surgery and a lengthy rehab.