CLEARWATER, Fla. — Noah Song had his longest outing in four years on Tuesday, and it was a good one.
The Philadelphia Phillies prospect struck out four, walked one and allowed two hits over 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his third relief appearance for Class A Clearwater since joining the organization in February from the U.S. Navy.
The 26-year-old threw 20 of 33 pitches for strikes in the Florida State League against Palm Beach. The right-hander worked a hitless inning in his debut at Bradenton on June 28, and allowed one run and one hit three days later to the Marauders,
Song reported to major league spring training on Feb. 23 after the Navy granted his transfer from active duty to the reserves. Shut down on March 11 due to lower back tightness, he hadn't pitched in a professional game since Aug. 29, 2019, for Class A Lowell.
In seven starts in 2019 for Lowell, a Boston affiliate, Song struck out 19 in 17 innings with a 1.06 ERA.
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 before returning to baseball.