Mississippi State Bulldogs - Opening Weekend Preview
The 20th ranked Bulldogs open the season with a three-game series against Manhattan in Starkville.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs have unveiled their opening weekend rotation as they start the season against Manhattan. The 20th ranked Bulldogs, per College Baseball Hub’s composite rankings, will roll out three guys who have experience at the college level, but lack starting pedigree in Starkville.
Friday - Pico Kohn - LHP
Mississippi State left-hander Pico Kohn missed all of 2023 and saw a light workload in 2024 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. Now fully healthy, Kohn is slated to start opening day for the Bulldogs. Primarily used out of the bullpen as a freshman, Kohn got acclimated to the starting rotation in 2024, but due to his recovery he was limited to four innings and maxed out at 72 pitches in his first 8 appearances. It was not until his last outing that he surpassed those numbers and went 7 innings on 90 pitches. At 6’4” and 200 pounds, Perfect Game had Kohn ranked as the 148th high school player in the class of 2021. His repertoire consists of a 92-94 mph fastball, a firm curveball with glove side break that is his best pitch, and a still developing changeup. He hides the ball well and his motion has a slight hitch that is successful in throwing off a hitter’s timing. His friday opponent, Manhattan, is 270th out 305 in RPI, a perfect opportunity for Kohn to start his season off on a high note.
Saturday - Karson Ligon - RHP
Karson Ligon has plenty of high-level starting experience with the Miami Hurricanes as a freshman and sophomore, but since transferring to Mississippi State he has been used almost exclusively as a reliever. Ligon’s numbers slid last year and that largely can be attributed to his lack of command. His BB% more than doubled from 2023 (9%) to 2024 (18.6%). Perhaps moving Ligon back into a starting rotation will help reset his command and limit the free passes. His arsenal has no shortage of firepower, so the 2025 goal for Ligon will be to better command his pitches. He features a three pitch mix, throwing each of them about an equal amount, but could serve to benefit from changing his pitch usage amount. It may seem daunting to tell a pitcher who struggles with the strike zone to limit his fastball usage, but his secondary offerings grade out so well that it may be necessary. In the graphic compiled below by @MLBDraftRep on X/Twitter, Ligon’s four-seam is slightly above average in terms of Stuff+ while his Whiff% and Chase% register as a paltry 14.6% and 9.6%, respectively. What this means is that when his fastball is thrown, hitters rarely swing and miss. This becomes a bigger problem when the Expected Weighted Average on Contact (xwOBAcon) comes in at at a .410 on the pitch. xwOBAcon removes strikeouts, walks, and hit by pitches to measure the effectiveness of a pitcher on balls in play. The key metrics used are exit velocity, launch angle, and in some cases, sprint speed. Even with an average velocity of 94.6 mph, Ligon’s fastball is his third best pitch. For his secondary offerings, he features a changeup averaging 88.1 mph and a slider at 85.3 mph. Both pitchers border on elite in terms of Stuff+ with his changeup at 135 and slider at 121. The Whiff%, Chase%, and xwOBAcon on these pitches perform far better than on his fastball.
Generating a whiff on 39.2% of his changeups with a 36.1% whiff rate, this pitch is in the conversation for best changeup in college baseball. With tremendous armside run, his horizontal break of 19.0 would place him second to only Devin Williams (19.4) of all MLB pitchers’ changeups in 2024. His slider does not generate the same level of chase (17.6%), but it is an extremely effective pitch for him. When put in play, hitters are generating a measly .180 xwOBAcon.
Karson Ligon uses a changeup to get 2024 2nd round pick Tommy White to strikeout swinging. Video via @HailStateBB on X/Twitter:
Sunday - Stone Simmons - RHP
After tearing his UCL early into the 2022 season, Simmons missed the rest of that season and all of 2023. As it finally seemed that he regained his health in 2024, he suffered another elbow injury requiring surgery that would lead him to miss all of that season as well. Simmons’ first game action since 2022 was for the Danville Dans of the 2024 Summer Prospect League. In four starts there, he threw 14 innings, gave up 9 hits, did not allow an earned run, walked only 3, and struck out 24. Healthy, at long last, Simmons is looking to carry over his summer league success to this college season. Since transferring from Furman after COVID shut down the 2020 season, and subsequently the Furman program, Simmons has been used exclusively out of the bullpen for the Bulldogs. In Mississippi State’s 2021 championship season, Simmons featured a fastball sitting around 92 mph with a sharp downwards breaking ball that he can spin as both a curveball or harder slider. After the effort he has put into getting back on the mound, Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis is confident in his graduate right-hander. In an interview with 247sports.com, Lemonis was asked about his confidence in Stone physically and mentally, saying that he was “confident in both,” but that “he’s about a week behind, so building up his volume is the big thing…he’s so efficient, maybe the most efficient we have.” Given his experience and success on the mound and his dedicated return to pitching, Stone Simmons is definitely a guy to root for in 2025.