UCLA star shortstop Roch Cholowsky is backing up the No. 1 overall hype with an incredible start to 2026 — and giving the Chicago White Sox little reason to overthink July.
Positioned with the number one overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Chicago White Sox have a unique opportunity to define the next phase of the franchise.
Anytime you’re picking first overall, it’s a rare opportunity to change the trajectory of an organization. But the 2026 draft feels particularly special.
Not only is this draft class one of the more talented groups in recent memory, but the top of the draft is headlined by one of the best prospects of the last 20 years.
UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is already being lauded as one of MLB’s future stars. From the moment he gets drafted in July, he’ll immediately become one of the top prospects in all of baseball.
This isn’t your typical No. 1 overall pick where the White Sox draft a high school player with loud tools and hope to develop him properly. Cholowsky is going to move quickly, and he could realistically be in the big leagues as soon as 2027.
And while there have inevitably been contrarians on the internet theorizing about the White Sox selecting a different player at the top of the draft, the beginning of the college baseball season has said it all.
Seven games into the year, UCLA is 6–1 — living up to the hype and maintaining its ranking as the No. 1 team in the country.
In those seven games, Cholowsky is batting .393 with three doubles, six home runs, 12 RBIs, and a staggering 1.643 OPS.
He has also played tremendous defense at shortstop.
It’s unrealistic to expect Cholowsky to maintain this pace for an entire season. But the start to his 2026 campaign puts him firmly on track to challenge the single-season home run record in the modern BBCOR (composite-bat) era. That record stands at 37 home runs — an outrageous number for anyone, but especially for a shortstop with elite defensive ability.
If Cholowsky gets anywhere close to that mark, he’ll have a legitimate argument for one of the greatest college baseball seasons ever.
And he’ll make things very simple for the Chicago White Sox, who already have the luxury of picking first overall and don’t need to overthink this decision.
The easiest way for White Sox fans to tune into UCLA baseball this spring and watch Cholowsky play is by subscribing to Big Ten+. Additional viewing options are detailed here.
And with every game comes another set of highlights. With every highlight, the excitement grows for the 2026 MLB Draft — when Cholowsky could officially join the White Sox organization and help transform the trajectory of this rebuild.
And hopefully, by the time that becomes reality in July, Chicago will have put together a fun enough first half of the 2026 season to begin accelerating that timeline.