PHILADELPHIA -- Regardless of how his name is pronounced, Roch Cholowsky has a new title: No. 1 pick.
Cholowsky, the standout UCLA shortstop, went to the Chicago White Sox with the top selection of the 2026 MLB draft and is expected to sign a record-setting bonus. While the White Sox debated between Cholowsky and Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson, who went to the Tampa Bay Rays at No. 2, they opted for a player who by next season could join their suddenly ascendant major league team.
The 21-year-old Cholowsky saw firsthand the White Sox's run to the top of the American League Central last month when he visited Chicago for three days and was at rookie outfielder Braden Montgomery's major league debut, in which Montgomery hit a walk-off home run. Cholowsky, who had never been to Chicago, spent hours walking around the city to familiarize himself. He said that following the trip, he called his agent, Joel Wolfe, and said "that's where I wanted to be."
"I fell in love with the city," Cholowsky said.
The feelings were mutual -- and led the White Sox to finalize a deal for a bonus well in excess of the $9.25 million given to Chase Burns and Charlie Condon in the 2024 draft. Even as commissioner Rob Manfred mispronounced Cholowsky's last name -- he said Chuh-LOO-ski when it's actually Chuh-LAU-ski -- Chicago celebrated adding another young, talented infielder to an organization replete with them.
"We were most comfortable with Roch Cholowsky with our first pick, regardless of what the signing bonus was going to be," White Sox GM Chris Getz said. "Now there was a fair amount of debate on which was the best selection for the Chicago White Sox, but as we really spent time the last couple weeks in dialing in on what's best for us, who's someone that we feel like can really come into this organization, fit in."
At 6-foot 2, 202 pounds with an excellent glove and arm, Cholowsky joins All-Star third baseman Miguel Vargas, shortstop Colson Montgomery (fourth in the AL with 23 home runs), top prospect Caleb Bonemer, contact maven William Bergolla and California prep shortstop Billy Carlson, the club's first-round pick last year. The White Sox traded infielder Jacob Gonzalez, a former first-round pick, to Pittsburgh on Friday night.
"I want to develop as a shortstop and see how long I can play that," said Cholowsky, who spent his freshman season at UCLA as a third baseman. "It's a tough position to play at the big league level. I'm capable of doing that. I know the White Sox love drafting shortstops."
Despite losing a major league-record 121 games in 2024, the White Sox didn't pick until 10th overall last year because of anti-tanking rules. They won the draft lottery in December, and the pick of Cholowsky was seen as something of a foregone conclusion until he put up numbers below expectations in Big Ten play, with an OPS nearly 275 points lower than nonconference games.
Regardless, Cholowsky's .320/.452/.636 line with 21 home runs and 60 RBIs followed a sophomore season in which he hit .353/.480/.710 with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs, and the White Sox made him their first No. 1 overall pick since Hall of Famer Harold Baines in 1977.
The son of Dan Cholowsky, a first-round pick by St. Louis in 1991, Cholowsky is the first No. 1 pick from UCLA since Pittsburgh selected Gerrit Cole in 2011 and the first college shortstop taken with the pick since Arizona chose Dansby Swanson in 2015. Now the shortstop of the Chicago Cubs, Swanson could have company on the South Side sooner than later.
Top draft picks in recent years have rocketed to the major leagues, with teams more comfortable than ever pushing players. Whether that would necessitate a move by Montgomery, Vargas or Cholowsky is the sort of problem the White Sox are perfectly content to address at the necessary time.
For now, they're just glad he's part of the organization. At 49-45, the White Sox have thrived even with the absence of Japanese star Munetaka Murakami, who returned from the injured list this week and will participate in the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game.
"We've had people that have met Roch Cholowsky and felt so comfortable with him they didn't even need to watch him play. That's how high character and impressive this human being is," Getz said. "And then you look at what he has done throughout his baseball career, both at UCLA but prior to that. We had interest in him in high school and then to be able to watch his college career unfold and see what he accomplished and the impact that he had on his teammates and that program and now to envision that type of influence within this organization is something that attracted us to select him at No. 1.
"The fact that we had the first pick today and we're currently in first place is something that I don't take for granted," Getz continued. "Not an easy thing to do but certainly represents the progress we've made as an organization."
Other picks of note included:
Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey to the Minnesota Twins at No. 3, continuing a tradition of Yellow Jackets catchers chosen in the first round (Jason Varitek, Matt Wieters, Joey Bart and Kevin Parada among them)
UC Santa Barbara right-hander Jackson Flora to the San Francisco Giants at No. 4, the second consecutive year a Gaucho has gone at the top of the draft after the Los Angeles Angels chose Tyler Bremner second overall
LSU outfielder Derek Curiel to the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 5, uniting him with shortstop Konnor Griffin (who was slated to go to LSU before Pittsburgh took him eighth overall in 2024) and Paul Skenes, who was a Tiger in 2023 when they were recruiting Curiel
Illinois prep shortstop Landon Thome to the White Sox at No. 34, the pick acquired in the Gonzalez trade that allowed Chicago to take the son of Hall of Famer Jim Thome, who's a special assistant with the team
Arkansas left-hander Hunter Dietz to the New York Yankees at No. 35, a surprising drop for the best college lefty in the draft and a microcosm of just how few teams prioritized pitching, with just three arms going in the first 20 picks
Massachusetts prep left-hander Brody Bumila to the Texas Rangers at No. 89, giving them among the most talented arms in the draft -- the 6-9, 255-pound Bumila regularly runs his fastball over 100 mph -- but one that has damage to the ulnar collateral ligament a year after he underwent internal-brace surgery to mend his UCL
Rutgers outfielder Peyton Bonds to the San Francisco Giants at No. 90, pairing Barry Bonds' nephew with the organization where the slugger set baseball's single-season and all-time home run records
