Back from Navy, Phillies prospect Noah Song throws perfect inning

BRADENTON, Fla. --Philadelphia Phillies prospect Noah Song pitched a perfect inning Wednesday night for Class A Clearwater in his first game since joining the organization in February from the U.S. Navy.

The 26-year-old Song reported to major league spring training on Feb. 23 after the Navy granted his transfer from active duty to the reserves. The right-hander, who last pitched in a professional game on Aug. 29, 2019, for Class A Lowell, was shut down on March 11 because of lower back tightness.

Entering in the bottom of the sixth inning of a Florida State League game at Bradenton, a Pittsburgh affiliate, Song got a pair of fly balls before striking out Alexander Mojica on a slider. He threw seven of 12 pitches for strikes.

In seven starts in 2019 for Lowell, a Boston affiliate, Song struck out 19 in 17 innings with a 1.06 ERA. With a fastball in the upper 90s mph, he went 11-1 with a 1.44 ERA and 161 strikeouts in 94 innings during his senior year at Navy.

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 Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski headed Boston's baseball operations.

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 returning to baseball.