Zach Putnam joined the Western Michigan baseball staff as its pitching coach in the summer of 2024. The 2026 campaign was his second with the Broncos.
The 2026 Broncos turned in a 27-25 record and went 20-13 in the MAC, their most conference victories since the 2021 campaign, to finish in fifth place and make a return trip to the MAC Tournament. Western Michigan had four players earn All-MAC First Team selections, the program's most since 1995, including starting pitcher Ricky Kidd and closer Turner Doran. Kidd went 7-0 with a 2.96 ERA in conference play and Doran led the MAC with 10 saves to help WMU trim its ERA by more than a full run over the prior campaign. Co-MAC Defensive Player of the Year Michael Maloney anchored a defense which ranked 33rd in the nation with a .978 fielding percentage, the second-best mark in program history. Off of the field, the Brown and Gold garnered five CSC Academic All-District selections and led the conference for the third straight year with 15 Academic All-MAC honorees.
In Putnam's first season, the Broncos earned four victories over Power Conference foes, taking down Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Notre Dame. The trio of Reese Gaber, DJ Thompson and Turner Doran combined to no-hit The Citadel, WMU's first no-hitter since 1997. The no-hitter was one of three shutouts for the Bronco staff, which tied for the most in the MAC. In addition to blanking the Bulldogs, Western Michigan also shut out Michigan and rival Central Michigan. Joey Wizceb became the first Bronco to throw a 9.0-inning complete game shutout since 2016, shutting out CMU on three hits on the way to WMU's first series sweep over the Chippewas since 2008. Western Michigan continued to succeed in the classroom as well, boasting five CSC Academic All-District selections and a league-leading 14 Academic All-MAC honorees.
A Michigan native, Putnam starred at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, where he was named the Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year and Mr. Baseball in 2005. The Detroit Tigers selected him in the 38th round of that year's MLB Draft, but he instead elected to attend the University of Michigan, where he won three Big Ten Championships, was a three-time All-American as a two-way player and was named the 2008 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. In the summer of 2008, he was taken by the Cleveland Indians in the fifth round of the MLB Draft.
The right-hander made his Major League debut for Cleveland in 2011, and made eight appearances for the club that season. He went on to play seven seasons in the majors with the Indians, Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. Over the course of his career in the big leagues, he posted a 3.20 ERA in 145 career appearances and struck out 162 in 152.0 innings (9.6 K/9).
Putnam began his coaching career in 2023, joining the Ball State staff as a volunteer assistant coach. That season, the Cardinals went on to win the MAC Tournament and reach the NCAA Regionals.
In 2024, Putnam returned to the Michigan dugout and served as a student assistant for the Wolverines while completing his undergraduate degree. U-M won 32 games and made a run to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
