STARKVILLE — Last week marked an important milestone in Pico Kohn’s rehab.
Eight weeks after surgery on the torn UCL in his left arm that caused him to miss the entire 2023 season, Kohn, a redshirt left-handed pitcher on the Mississippi State baseball team, was back in the gym lifting weights.
Nothing too intense. Just lower body stuff and drills with his healthy right arm. But, another step to getting back into playing shape.
“I’m not gonna lie, I hadn’t lifted in like three months,” Kohn told The Dispatch in a recent sitdown interview. “I was really sore when I woke up the next morning.
“It feels good. I know this is all part of the process. It felt really good to be doing something again.”
A real baseball activity again.
Since his surgery, Kohn has spent a lot of time on the virtual diamond, playing MLB The Show. In between that and his summer class on campus, Kohn also took a shot at being a DoorDash driver. An unsuccessful attempt to cure his boredom.
At the suggestion of MSU outfielder Kellum Clark, Kohn even recently began giving pitching lessons to local baseball players of all ages.
“I loved working at the camps here last summer with all the little kids running around screaming your name, just wanting to be around you,” Kohn said. “So why not.”
Most of the young players Kohn has worked with have been left-handed, just like the 6-foot-4 Verbena, Alabama native. Boys who watched him emerge as a freshman contributor, making 21 appearances in 2022, pitching 36 2/3 innings, allowing 20 earned runs and striking out 35 for a 4.91 ERA.
Boys who hope to see him back at Dudy Noble Field next season.
Eight weeks after his April 3 social media announcement that he would miss his sophomore year, Kohn can feel himself getting healthy again.
His left arm, which used to be held up by a brace and now reveals a scar from his procedure, is functional again. He can do just about anything, from brushing his teeth to tying his shoes. Anything but throw a baseball. But that may not be too far off.
“These next eight weeks is where you really start incorporating my arms into lifts,” Kohn said. “It’s really where you get stronger.”
And closer to a return. At the same time, Kohn understands that his recovery is a process.
One that he has no plans of rushing this offseason.
A year on the diamond lost
This spring was the first time Kohn, 20, had baseball taken away from him.
Kohn doesn’t know, specifically, what caused his UCL to tear, attributing it to a life as a pitcher.
“Throwing a baseball puts a lot of stress on your body, especially your arm,” he said. “Just between swapping over from high school to college, trying to get stronger, all the throwing. I feel like this day and age with velocity, (Tommy John) is bound to happen at some point…I’m just glad it happened this year.
Kohn said it was a nagging pain that worsened over time. During a preseason throwing session, he came back out to the mound after a strong first inning and knew something didn’t feel right. He took two weeks off from pitching, but the pain persisted when he tried coming back.
“I was kind of stubborn and waited a little long to get an MRI,” Kohn said. “I was researching and felt like I knew what it was, but did not want to accept it.”
Until he had no choice.
Two days after Kohn’s season-ending surgery, his rehab began with simple wrist mobility exercises, building up his arm extension from there.
If there was any benefit to the timing of Kohn’s Tommy John surgery, it was that he had no time to feel sorry for himself. He had classes, tutoring, meals and was still able to be around the team for most of the year.
“We still had lots of home games and practices every day,” Kohn said. “There wasn’t anything I could do about it, so there was no use sulking about it.”
While he was still on staff, former MSU pitching coach Scott Foxhall made sure Kohn was still engaged as much as he could be.
Kohn would get to practice an hour early and talk to guys during stretches. He would sometimes throw on a glove and catch during long toss or pick-off drills, allowing another teammate to throw the ball back.
It all helped his mental state. So did having multiple teammates who went through the same process a year earlier.
Kohn said he would constantly talk with fellow MSU pitchers Stone Simmons and Brooks Auger, teammates who had been working through their own year-long rehab from arm injuries.
They were guys Kohn could ask about understanding certain things, like why his arm was tight on certain days or even how to shower more efficiently.
“They are still there when I need them now,” Kohn said. Former MSU pitcher Landon Sims, another arm injury victim, has also been a resource for Kohn, offering help in any way he could.
As Kohn has progressed over the months, MSU head coach Chris Lemonis has been by his side, making sure everything has gone smoothly, no matter how long it takes.
“You just can’t rush it,” Kohn said. “Some guys when they are coming back and first start throwing, they try to do too much and it leads to them being pushed back. You just gotta take it day by day and listen to your body.
“Lemonis wants what’s best for me. We all want me to be back, but he understands that I know my body and that I need to be healthy. At the end of the day it’s my health I hope to be back (next year).”
A summer of rehab awaits
The ultimate goal is to once again be a factor on MSU’s pitching staff.
Originally, Kohn was planning to head to the Cape Cod League this summer to refine his mechanics in order to take that next step. Instead, he is hanging around team facilities in Starkville, just getting stronger and more flexible.
Eventually, he will start throwing again and find his role on MSU’s pitching staff with a new pitching coach.
Kohn has recently taken up yoga, too. It’s something his dad, Andrew, and girlfriend have always suggested to him, but was too stubborn to do. At least until former MSU pitcher Graham Yntema told Kohn his velocity jumped seven-to-eight miles per hour after a couple of months of it.
Now Kohn is hooked. Anything to help him get back to the pitcher he once was.
“I’m about as stiff as a board,” Kohn said. “But hopefully I won’t be here in a few months.”
By then, he and the Bulldogs hope Kohn will be back on the mound, too.
Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 29 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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