White Sox draft UCLA SS Roch Cholowsky at No. 1
Roch Cholowsky wept with joy, and likely with some relief, once commissioner Rob Manfred called his name as the first overall pick at the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft on Saturday afternoon.
The Chicago White Sox, picking at the top of the draft for the first time since 1977, chose Cholowsky, a 21-year-old from UCLA who is said to be the best collegiate shortstop prospect since Troy Tulowitzki in 2005. Cholowsky also is the first college shortstop to be taken No. 1 overall since Dansby Swanson in 2015.
Surrounded at home in Arizona by many family and friends while the draft played out in Philadelphia across a video link, Cholowsky unmistakably turned on the tears once the White Sox made the pick as he sat on the living room sofa.
Cholowsky might not even have heard Manfred mispronounce his last name -- it came out incorrectly as "Chu-LEW-skee" instead of the phonetical "Chu-LAU-skee" -- but that's not what got him crying. Cholowski told interviewers with NBC he knew the White Sox would pick him, but that he also kept the information to himself until Manfred's announcement.
"There were a lot of emotions this morning," Cholowsky said. "I found out a couple of hours ago and didn't tell anybody. ... Everyone else found out with the pick. I'm super excited that I got all the people here with me. That was a big thing."
Texas high-school shortstop Grady Emerson went second to the Tampa Bay Rays, and Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey went third to the Minnesota Twins. Most draft analysts projected those three would be the top selections. Some preferred Emerson because he's younger with possibly more upside than Cholowsky, and a handful of others considered Lackey to be the biggest talent -- but with the risks that come from playing behind the plate.
The San Francisco Giants selected from UC Santa Barbara right-hander Jackson Flora with the fourth pick, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rounded out the top five with outfielder Derek Curiel from Louisiana State.
Teams used Saturday for the first four rounds of the draft, with rounds 5-20 scheduled for Sunday.
Cholowsky produced a .329/.448/.624 slash line with 52 home runs in 178 career games over three seasons for the Bruins. He ranked second among NCAA Division I shortstops this season in wins above replacement and defensive runs saved, per USA Baseball, which named him a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award as the nation's top amateur player.
The White Sox didn't finish the 2025 season with the worst record, but they did poorly enough in the standings to help them with the draft lottery. As of a few weeks ago, Cholowsky to the White Sox seemed like a foregone conclusion, but a few doubts emerged. Some questioned a swing that could limit his power if left unchanged, or that he didn't run ideally fast enough. Others disliked how Cholowsky's season ended in a slump amid UCLA losing early in the NCAA Tournament despite being ranked No. 1.
The White Sox didn't let any doubts bother them into picking someone else. White Sox scouting director Mike Shirley praised Cholowsky in a call to him shortly after the pick, which they put on social media.
"Great job, unbelievable job, of handling the pressure and expectations of everything that came with this," Shirley said. "How you just grinded through it, even when (the results) weren't perfect. That's why we truly believed in what you can really do."
Cholowsky told reporters he genuinely was pleased to be going to Chicago, which he visited in June. The sides reportedly are close to signing a contract for north of $10 million.
"I fell in love with Chicago when I went out there a couple of months back," Cholowsky said. "The people, the office, the players. It was everything that I wanted in the draft."
The biggest surprise of the first round might have come from the Boston Red Sox, who picked North Carolina shortstop Jake Schaffner at No. 20. He was ranked typically between 50-80 by analysts. Another surprise: the Mets taking Arkansas right-hander Carson Wiggins at No. 27. He pitched 14 innings in his college career and none at all since having an internal brace procedure on his right elbow in 2025.
The New York Yankees might have gotten some value by picking Arkansas lefty Hunter Dietz at pick No. 35, with the hometown Philadelphia Phillies going with California high-school shortstop Tyler Spangler a pick later.
The White Sox made another pick at No. 34 by trading rookie infielder Jacob Gonzalez and left-hander Brandon Eisert to acquire it from the Pirates on Friday night. They chose high-school infielder Landon Thome, son of Hall of Famer and White Sox executive Jim Thome. The deal also gave them a bonus pool of about $20.5 million, the most in the draft.
In a rebuilding phase for the past several years, which included a league-record 121 losses in 2024, Chicago has been a surprise contender in the American League Central. One of their leaders is shortstop Colson Montgomery, who has developed into one of the best players at his position in a league deep with big-time talent playing short.
Scouts rate Cholowsky's defensive potential highest among all aspects of his game, so fans should expect him to play shortstop. In addition to Montgomery, the White Sox also have a deep farm system rich with additional shortstop talent like Caleb Bonemer and Billy Carlson. A good thing about drafting any shortstop is the flexibility to change their position later. By the time Cholowsky is ready to play in the majors, even if it's sometime in 2027, Montgomery and others could move elsewhere on the diamond.
There's no rush to promote Cholowsky to the majors, but he is eager to sign his deal, buy a new truck with his bonus money, and start working in the minors. When a reporter asked how soon he hopes to sign a contract, Cholowsky quickly replied:
"Tomorrow."
--Field Level Media
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This story was originally published July 11, 2026 at 10:56 AM.