COLUMBIA \u2014 Tyler Putnam may still be a teenager, but this summer he is set to make what could be a life-changing decision: whether to declare for the 2026 MLB draft straight out of high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Putnam is a pitcher and middle infielder at Battle High School. He is currently committed to the University of Tennessee to continue his baseball career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“When I told my parents, they were super thrilled, too,” Putnam said. “It was just a really surreal experience. It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid, so to be able to experience that is just phenomenal.”<\/p>\n
The decision can be overwhelming, Putnam said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’m just trying to enjoy it all,” he said. “I’m not trying to get too caught up in it. Like I said, just finish out my years of being a high school kid and remember that I am still a kid.”<\/p>\n
Putnam cracked the Top 200 of Prep Baseball Report’s March MLB Draft Board. The list includes both high schoolers and college players.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But for now, Putnam is focused on this season with his teammates at Battle. He’s also set a big goal for himself: to win Gatorade State Player of the Year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“That’s something that’s been on my sheet since freshman year, ever since I got to high school,” Putnam said. “I think that’d be a really cool way to go out and be able to honor this school and all it’s given to me, and this program as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While baseball is a huge part of Putnam’s life, he tries to find time to get involved with his community, much of which centers around his faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tyler is on the senior leader team for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Battle High School and attends young life clubs on Wednesdays here in town.<\/p>\n
“I just try to find an escape from baseball and really indulge in senior year activities and try to make the most of my high school years,” Putnam said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bobby Baker, the head coach of Battle’s baseball team, said Putnam was attending the varsity team’s summer tournaments as a freshman instead of going through the traditional route that younger players typically take.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“He can be wherever he wants to be in five years,”\u00a0Baker said.\u00a0“His goals haven’t changed since he came in as a freshman. This is what he’s wanted to do, it’s what he’s worked for.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Baker said Putnam’s preparation and work ethic are attributes that benefit his whole program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The best benefit that we have from Tyler is that when he committed to Tennessee, we got a Tennessee player at Battle. Not just in name, but he was working like he was already there. And we got the benefit from that,” Baker said. “Now he’s getting looked at, at the next level. And we’re getting that Tyler. He’s working hard for us like he’s already there. We’re blessed to have that.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jace Cooper, Battle’s starting catcher, went to elementary school with Putnam and played against him on travel ball teams before they became teammates in high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I just want to be there for my guys. I mean, I don’t have to do nothing crazy. I don’t want to be Gatorade Player of the Year. I want (Putman) to experience that cause he’s earned it,” Cooper said. “I want to be all-conference catcher… I feel like that’s a goal that I’ve had. I feel like I can do it. I’ve put in the work to do it so I just want to make sure it happens.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
This season behind the plate, Cooper said it’s been a blast catching Putnam. And although Putnam said his fastball is currently topping out around 97-98 mph, Cooper has gotten used to the speed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s just a fun feeling getting a strikeout and hyping him up and then he hypes me up. And it just goes back and forth the whole time,” Cooper said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Putnam said he wants to cement his legacy at Battle by winning a bunch of games with his teammates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Just compete every game, give it our all, and just make sure we left an impact on the younger kids around here, especially,” Putnam said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Baker said he’s been asked if having a player with the potential of Tyler on the team is a distraction or hard to deal with. His answer: “Absolutely not.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
“How often do you get to be 60 feet away from somebody that’s doing something that special?” Baker said. “We enjoy every part of it. The team does. He’s the right guy to have this opportunity. He’s humble, he helps out with all these guys, he’s a team player.”\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLUMBIA \u2014 Tyler Putnam may still be a teenager, but this summer he is set to make what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2276],"tags":[5,7545,85501,2291,4,1586],"class_list":{"0":"post-674078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-draft","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-battle","10":"tag-highschoolsports","11":"tag-major-league-baseball-draft","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-mlb-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116391751389419149","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}