The Chicago White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the first overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, adding a potential franchise cornerstone to their young core.
The debate is finally over. The pick is finally in. With the first overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Chicago White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky on Saturday afternoon.
Cholowsky, the longtime favorite to be the first player off the board, first began receiving national attention during his sophomore season at UCLA, when he batted .353 with 23 home runs and a 1.190 OPS for a Bruins team that was one of the best in the country and made a run to the College World Series.
Prior to his junior season, Cholowsky was viewed as the runaway top draft choice and the most clear cut No. 1 pick since Adley Rutschman in 2019. Many evaluators believed Cholowsky was the best college shortstop prospect the draft had seen in more than 20 years.
The 2026 season complicated things slightly, as Cholowsky once again had a great year but did not quite elevate his statistics the way some may have wanted. He hit 21 home runs with a .320 batting average and a 1.088 OPS while leading UCLA to a 52-8 overall record. But with Cholowsky under the microscope as the top ranked draft prospect in the country, he also became an easy target for doubters and critics.
High school shortstop Grady Emerson jumped Cholowsky for the top spot in a late update to MLB Pipeline’s draft prospect rankings and began to enter the conversation for the White Sox at first overall. But at the end of the day, Chicago stuck to its guns and made Cholowsky the first name read by Rob Manfred in Philadelphia.
Cholowsky has plus tools on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. He is an advanced pure hitter with zero questions about his defensive ability or whether he will stick at shortstop long term.
“He routinely finds the barrel, doesn't swing and miss or chase with an advanced approach at the plate. When he finds the ball out front, he'll show off 70 raw power to his pull side, and that's where his home run pop showed up in 2025. He's not a runner, though he's smart on the basepaths,” reads the prospect report from MLB Pipeline.
“His tools and makeup make him look like the kind of player who could be big league ready in a hurry.”
Of the options facing the White Sox with the top pick in the draft, Cholowsky was certainly viewed as the higher floor choice. He comes with an extensive track record and plenty of certainty (if such a thing even exists with draft picks). He should move through the minor leagues quickly and could realistically find himself in Chicago at some point in 2027.
But make no mistake about it, the ceiling here is still astronomically high. The White Sox just landed a potential future MLB star. Cholowsky is a clear big league shortstop with a plus glove, plus power, more walks than strikeouts during his college career and the ability to drive the ball to all fields.
He is a right handed hitter, which fits well within the current construction of Chicago’s offensive core. And while he is not a gifted runner, he possesses enough natural athletic ability to provide some positional versatility.
I think the White Sox got this one right. Roch Cholowsky has been the name on people’s tongues for more than a year now, and for good reason. Now Chicago will look to add more talent around him throughout the rest of the 2026 draft.
