A Tennessee baseball commit has officially signed professionally and will not play college baseball in Knoxville. Right-handed pitcher Ty Putnam officially signed with the Colorado Rockies on Monday for $1.897 million, MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis first reported.
Colorado drafted Putnam with the first pick in the fifth round (No. 136) of the MLB Draft earlier this month. The slot value was $553,100 for the 136th overall pick in the draft but Colorado paid massively over the slot value to secure Putnam’s services and keep him from playing college baseball at Tennessee.
Putnam committed to Tennessee in October 2024 but blew up as a draft prospect in the last year. He particularly impressed at last month’s MLB Combine in Arizona where his fastball was up to 99 mph.
More From RTI: Where Tennessee Baseball’s Transfer Class Ranks Following MLB Draft
The Columbia, Missouri native ranked as the No. 92 player and No. 23 right-handed pitcher in the 2026 recruiting cycle according to Perfect Game but went well above that ranking with the 136th pick in the draft.
Putnam is one of four Tennessee signees who was selected in the MLB Draft along with Jared Grindlinger, Trevor Condon and Kaiden McCarthy. All four players have officially signed— Grindlinger and McCarthy with the Angels while Condon signed with the Saint Louis Cardinals.
Tennessee signed a highly impressive 2026 recruiting class including a strong group of right-handed pitchers. McCarthy and Putnam won’t make it to campus while Gannon Grant, Gary Morse and Shawn Sullivan will all make it to Tennessee.
Landon Mack and Brady Frederick are the Vols’ only returning right-handed pitchers from last season while the Vols added three right-handed pitchers out of the portal— Louisville’s Parker Detmers, Clemson’s Hayden Simmerson and Mercer two-way Braydon Kersey. With limited proven right-handed pitchers, the incoming freshmen will have a chance to earn a meaningful role during the 2027 season.
