Zach Putnam had a little earlier wake up call than he would have liked on Thursday, but considering the call he'd received the night before, he probably didn't mind.

The Ann Arbor native and former Pioneer and Michigan star was called up to the Chicago Cubs from Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday night and was up by 4:30 a.m. to catch a plane and join the team Thursday morning according to the Chicago Tribune.

Putnam, a right-handed relief pitcher, was 1-1 with a 3.26 earned-run average in 17 appearances for Iowa with 19.1 innings pitched this year. This is Putnam's third call up to the majors with as many teams in as many years after spending last year with the Colorado Rockies and the year before with the Cleveland Indians.

"He showed us in spring training he had a swing-and-miss split (fastball) and obviously carried over to Triple-A," manager Dale Sveum told the Tribune.

Putnam was Michigan's Mr. Baseball - given to the state's top high school player - at Pioneer High School in 2005 and led the team to state championship in 2004. He was a two-time All-American during a three-year career at the University of Michigan and was drafted by the Indians in the fifth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. He began his career as a starting pitcher in the Indians' farm system, but became a reliever midway through the 2010 season.

• Read the entire Chicago Tribune story.

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.