What are MLB scouts saying about Butler pitchers Nolan Stefaniak and Kyle Casteel ahead of the draft?
With Butler’s baseball season having passed, the 2026 MLB Draft is fast approaching. Two Golden Tornado star pitchers — Kyle Casteel and Nolan Stefaniak — are gaining attention after scouts showed up to clock them during the campaign.
Casteel, a West Virginia commit, is ranked as the No. 159 overall prospect for the 20-round selection process by MLB.com. After a senior season in which he posted a 0.64 ERA and struck out 103 batters across 65.2 innings of work, those who kept an eye on him were impressed.
“The feel for pitching and pure arm strength point to some ceiling here, with some evaluators talking about the West Virginia recruit in the top five rounds,” his scouting report said.
MLB.com also posted a scouting video of Stefaniak, a Penn State pledge, on Tuesday.
“Nolan Stefaniak put up dominant numbers during his senior season in Southwest Pennsylvania, though his stuff fluctuated at times,” the video narrator said. “Early in the year, the right-hander was clocked mostly in the 90-94 mph range with his fastball, but he was touching 98 early in his championship game start before falling off as he tired.”
Stefaniak turned in a 1.18 ERA and fanned 85 over 59.1 frames.
“There’s enough arm strength and projection to intrigue teams if they can sign him away from staying in the Keystone State to attend Penn State,” the narrator said.
The draft will be held July 11-13 in Philadelphia, the site of this year’s MLB All-Star Game.
