Steven Zachary McGuire Putnam (born July 3, 1987) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Amateur career

Born in

Rochester, Michigan Rochester is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 12,711 at the 2010 census. It is a northern suburb in Metro Detroit located 20 miles north of the city of Detroit. Rochester was the first European settleme ...

, Putnam attended Pioneer High School in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

. At Pioneer, Putnam was the Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year and Mr. Baseball in 2005, and also led the team to a state title in 2004. Putnam then attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where he played for the

Michigan Wolverines baseball The Michigan Wolverines baseball team represents the University of Michigan in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Michigan athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games ...

team as a

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

, and was a two-time All-American. In 2007, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. As a hitter, Putnam hit .307 with 19 home runs and had an overall ERA of 3.36 over three seasons for the Wolverines.

Professional career

Putnam was drafted by the

in the fifth round of the

2008 Major League Baseball Draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

. He spent the next four seasons in the Indians' minor league system: 2008 with the

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were a M ...

, 2009 with the

Kinston Indians The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949. The team began play in 1978 as the Ki ...

and

Akron Aeros The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 7,630 ...

, 2010 with the Aeros and

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

, and 2011 with the Clippers. In 2011, Putnam had a 6–3 record and a 3.65 ERA in 44 games.

Cleveland Indians

Putnam was a September call-up, and made his major league debut on September 13, 2011. In 2011 for the Indians, Putnam went 1–1 with a 6.41 ERA in eight games.

Colorado Rockies

Putnam was traded to the

on January 20, 2012, in exchange for

Kevin Slowey Kevin Michael Slowey (born May 4, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Slowey was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the second round (73rd overall) of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft. He also played for the Miami Marli ...

. Putnam spent most of 2012 with Triple-A

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, but did pitch in two games with the Rockies.

Chicago Cubs

The

claimed Putnam off waivers from the Rockies on November 2, 2012. He was outrighted off the roster on October 9, 2013, after appearing in five games for the team; he instead spent most of the season with the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

Chicago White Sox

Putnam signed a minor league deal with the

in November 2013. On April 17, 2014, Putnam's contract was purchased, and he was placed on Chicago's 25-man roster; he spent most of the season with the White Sox. Putnam ended establishing career bests in all pitching categories, finishing with a 1.98 ERA in innings, while also going 6-for-7 in save opportunities. The following season, Putnam doubled his ERA from 2014, finishing with a 4.07 ERA in 49 games. In innings, he struck out 64 batters. The next two seasons, he wound up spending most of the time on the disabled list, appearing in only 32 games over the 2016 and 2017 season. Putnam underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

in June 2017, and elected

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in December 2017. He missed the 2018 season while recovering from his surgery.

Boston Red Sox

On December 18, 2018, Putnam signed a minor league deal with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. He suffered a

hamstring injury Straining of the hamstring, also known as a pulled hamstring, is defined as an excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers and related tissues. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes participating in many sports. Track and field athletes are ...

in early March 2019, and spent the season on the roster of the Triple-A

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

Second Stint with White Sox

On March 3, 2020, Putnam signed a minor league deal with the

. Putnam was released by the White Sox organization on June 26, 2020.

References

External links

MiLB.com player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Putnam, Zach 1987 births Living people Cleveland Indians players Colorado Rockies players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Michigan Wolverines baseball players Chatham Anglers players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Kinston Indians players Akron Aeros players Peoria Saguaros players Columbus Clippers players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Iowa Cubs players Charlotte Knights players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Rochester, Michigan Baseball players from Oakland County, Michigan Baseball players from Ann Arbor, Michigan