Ben Kasten’s a bullpen arm to watch for NIU, with live-armed upside and some command questions
In the 2026 season, Northern Illinois used Ben Kasten as a right-handed reliever who appeared in eight games, and his profile is more about flashes than gaudy numbers: he tossed a scoreless inning against North Carolina A&T and a perfect inning at Toledo with a strikeout, but also ran into traffic in other outings. The differentiator here is the arm-side upside and usable relief experience, but the fit question is command consistency—he’s intriguing if your staff wants a developmental strike-thrower who can handle middle relief, not a finished product.
