Last summer, when Metea Valley’s Tyler Gluting emerged on the college scouting scene with his mid-90s fastball, he made it clear that he didn’t want to just pitch at the next level.
The junior outfielder/pitcher sought out a baseball program that would, at least initially, allow him to be a two-way player. Gluting committed after finding that fit at Oklahoma.
This spring, Gluting hasn’t been able to pitch yet for the Mustangs. All he’s had to show is his bat. But with the way he has started out, he’s making the Sooners look like they made the right call.
“I tried to get into the cage as much as I could this offseason, really working on different types of machine work, flips, soft toss, everything,” Gluting said. “It’s great seeing the results.
“I’m just trying to keep this streak going as long as I can, just finding barrels.”
Gluting is off to a blistering start out of the leadoff spot for Metea (4-2). He’s already batting .609 (14-for-23) with 11 runs, three steals, six doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs.
Even more impressively, Gluting has been putting those numbers up in the most difficult time of the season in the state to hit weather-wise.
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“The ball is coming off his bat differently,” Metea coach Steve Colombe said of Gluting. “He’s really been a catalyst from the top of the order for us from the leadoff spot.
“Whether it’s him driving in runs or him getting something going from the top of the order.”
The breakout at the plate isn’t all that surprising. Gluting hit .364 with 11 extra-base hits last spring, becoming one of the best players in the DuPage Valley Conference as a sophomore.
“He was all-conference last year,” Colombe said. “He hit .380 in conference, and that’s something he can even improve on. I think people will pitch him differently when they see him, but the sky is the limit for him.
“This is a complete-package player. He put in a lot of time in the offseason hitting. Every year he’s made strides. Seeing this pitching for the third year I think pays off too.”
Working on getting stronger and getting extra reps in the cage, Gluting can even feel the work paying off in the early going.
“I can see a big difference when the ball comes off the bat,” Gluting said. “It just flies off the bat compared to last year, and that’s really helped me get a lot more extra-base hits.
“I’m swinging early in the count, getting fastballs early, trying to get a barrel on the ball.”
The hot start at the plate has been impressive. What many people are interested in, however, is what put him on the map — his arm. He has slowly ramped up to the point where he hopes to be on the mound in the next couple of weeks.
After an inconsistent season as a pitcher last spring, Gluting is ready to break out in that aspect of the game as well.
“We know he has the arm talent,” Colombe said of Gluting. “He’s a talented kid. Ball comes off the bat different. Ball comes out of the hand different.”
Gluting is ranked as the second best left-hander in Illinois in the 2027 class by Prep Baseball Report behind Benet’s Quinn Rooney, who’s a Notre Dame recruit.
In the offseason, Gluting spent plenty of time working on his pitching craft, too.
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“It will be a couple more weeks but I’ll be back on the mound,” Gluting said with a nod. “I’m very excited. Pitching has been a big focus of mine this offseason.
“It’s been hard not getting out there right away, but the time is coming.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.