Surprising prospect cracks Yankees' new top 10 list due to projected future gains

The New York Yankees farm system seems to be as thin as it's been in years, but most of the consternation comes on the position player side. If you're tamping down a freakout about the Yankees' pitching, just know that by midsummer, things will already look a lot different. Not because anyone's getting imported or dealt for. Just because the Pitching Lab's offseason plan will have been enacted.

In the same way the Yankees planned for the offseason ahead of schedule at the 2025 trade deadline, they also planned for this summer's trade deadline at last year's draft. They don't believe they have to sell from the upper-tier core of Carlos Lagrange, Elmer Rodriguez and Ben Hess because of the work they've done turning projectable arms into valuable ones. So far, they've been proven right, trading names like Griffin Herring, Josh Grosz, and Gage Ziehl instead of the Big 3. Expect Thatcher Hurd and Pico Kohn to be the next players to make the leap — or, at least, that's how the experts feel.

Hurd and Kohn ranked Nos. 9 and 10 on MLB Pipeline's brand new preseason Top 30 list. Hurd, selected in 2024 out of LSU, missed the entire 2025 season after spring Tommy John surgery. He, like Chase Hampton, will be somewhat rising from the ashes this summer.

Kohn? He's a minor surprise, given the caliber of pitching prospect the Yankees have clustered in that mid-range, all of whom could've been selected. But the experts at MLB staked their flag on the Mississippi State product and moved him up a couple notches over the winter.

Why Yankees 2025 draft pick Pico Kohn could be the next prospect to make the leap in New York's pitching lab

Likely, this adjustment is because scouts have believed in potential velocity gains for Kohn in the right system since before he was selected. The Yankees are certainly one of the league's foremost leaders in finding velocity, and they've turned similar lefties in Herring and Brock Selvidge into formidable options. Most prospect chatterers believe Xavier Rivas, ranked 23rd by MLB, is next on that list as well.

Kohn, at the time of his selection, already seemed to fit the Yankees' mold nicely. He had Tommy John during his collegiate career. His ERA (bad) and K rate (good) clashed, much like Hess' profile during his time at Alabama. He has a home run issue — and if the Yankees correct that this summer, he'll be a lot like their other past prototypes.

Pipeline's experts have staked their claim early. Now, it's on the Yankees to deliver on the promise.