With their fourth-round pick, the Yankees selected left-handed pitcher Pico Kohn out of Mississippi State. The 22-year-old went undrafted last year but flashed interesting traits during his redshirt junior season to get back on the draft radar.
Kohn’s selection harkens back to the Yankees’ 2024 Draft strategy, where they appeared to prize pitchers—especially those in the SEC—with big traits and optimistic high-end projections over surface-level results. Kohn has just a 4.36 ERA over 109.1 innings the last two seasons, and missed the 2023 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but clearly showed enough tools to impress the Yankees.
MLB Pipeline ranked Kohn as their 122nd draft prospect, writing that he showed up this year with an improved arsenal and better command. Though those enhanced tools didn’t show up in the form of attractive run prevention numbers, Kohn missed bats in the SEC, to the tune of a 114-to-29 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 80 innings in 2025.
Pico Kohn's 11Ks in 5 IP. pic.twitter.com/z5kPzAUK3v
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 14, 2025
Baseball America had Kohn as their 168th prospect, and praised his overall skillset which suggests a starter’s profile:
[Kohn has] a blend of pitchability and bat-missing ability. Kohn works from a three-quarters arm slot with a funky delivery that adds deception to a fastball that sits at 92-93 mph and touches 95. His best secondary is a low-80s slider, which he throws with confidence and shows some ability to manipulate its shape…will mix in a firm low-80s changeup and a slower curveball in the upper 70s.
Kohn’s frame, at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, hints at room to grow, which fits the Yankees’ MO. New York has proven itself adept at developing young pitching prospects beyond their pedigree, and in Kohn they have another talent who they’ll surely try to help add even more spice to an already interesting profile.
What do you think of the Yankees pivoting to pitching and adding Kohn after targeting hitters last night? Let us know in the comments below.
