Roch Cholowsky Becomes First UCLA Player Taken No. 1 Overall By White Sox in MLB Draft
White Sox make history by selecting Roch Cholowsky No. 1 in the 2026 MLB Draft. The UCLA shortstop is the first sophomore to win the Brooks Wallace Award and a Golden Spikes finalist.
White Sox bet on future with no. 1 pick Roch Cholowsky amid AL central push...
On Saturday, the Chicago White Sox made Roch Cholowsky the No. 1 overall selection in the 2026 MLB Draft.
The 21-year-old Cholowsky made history as the first sophomore and first UCLA player to win the 2025 Brooks Wallace Award for the top shortstop in college baseball. The No. 1 pick also earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons in 2025 and 2026.
He’s also a finalist for this year’s Golden Spikes Award, given to college baseball’s best player, with the winner set to be announced June 29th.
The Chandler, Arizona native earned praise for his defense in 2025, picking up Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors and an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove.
Cholowsky also raked at the plate, hitting .320 with a 1.088 OPS, 21 home runs and 61 RBI.
He now joins a Chicago White Sox squad that has flipped the script and is right in the mix of the American League Central pennant race.
Earlier this week, White Sox VP of amateur scouting Mike Shirley said the team had narrowed its No. 1 pick down to three players: Cholowsky, Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, and Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson.
“It's not about what they are today,” he said. “It's about what they're going to be two to three years from now when they show up here at the major league level.”
Roch Cholowsky goes first overall to the @WhiteSox!
— MLB (@MLB) July 11, 2026
The last time the White Sox had the No. 1 pick in the Draft? They selected Hall of Famer Harold Baines 🤔
(MLB x Nippon Express) pic.twitter.com/Rusw11zwMY
Colson Montgomery, 24, has provided most of the power at shortstop for the White Sox this year. The budding slugger - similar to Cholowsky - has 23 home runs and 58 RBI, though his .218 batting average and .782 OPS are a concern.
Montgomery was also a White Sox first-round pick, taken No. 22 overall in the 2021 MLB Draft.
Whether Cholowsky eventually takes over the position from Montgomery will play out over the next few years.
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