Yankees' fourth-round MLB Draft pick sounds like a dream pitching sleeper

Last summer, the New York Yankees went into the MLB Draft with a clear unifying mission, much the same way the Boston Red Sox did this summer: (gravelly voice) get me pitching. This year, their one-track mind added a second track, or they weren't nearly as excited about the depth of arms available to them at No. 39, their highest selection. Instead, New York started things off with a polished lefty high-school bat in Dax Kilby, then added slugging infielder (and son of Jeff) Kaeden Kent in the third.

For those on the edge of their seats, the Yankees finally went back to the pitching well to start Day 2, and might have selected the most prototypical young Yanks steal of all time.

Pico Kohn, the Yankees' fourth-round selection, is a powerhouse lefty out of Mississippi State, who opted to come back for a senior season in which he gained both weight and thrust on the mound. MLB Pipeline pegged Kohn as the 122nd-best prospect in the draft, and the Yankees swiped him at an appropriate spot.

Whether he pans out or not, consensus is he was one of the senior signs to watch this summer, and falls almost spectacularly in line with the Yankees' by-the-book strategy last summer. SEC pedigree? Check. Mid-collegiate-career Tommy John? Bingo. Flashy strikeout totals with an underwhelming ERA? Ben Hess, are you there?

Yankees fourth-round pick Pico Kohn is a college senior lefty on helium

Kohn is far from a finished product - but what fourth-round pick is? The most important thing here is that the Yankees experimented with a type in recent seasons (Clarke Schmidt in 2017 out of South Carolina fits the bill, too), quintupled down on it in 2024, and then let the throughline continue in 2025 after early proven success.

Hess, Bryce Cunningham (Vanderbilt) and Griffin Herring (LSU) have all ranged between godsends and eyebrow-raisers so far, and the Yankees will approach the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline with additional assets in their bag because of it. Now, Kohn swiftly joins the next generation of electric talent from a proven conference with a few kinks to wrinkle out — and very few development programs do that last part better than the Yankees.