The Chicago White Sox had the first pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, and for weeks the buzz was split between UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky and Texas high school infielder Grady Emerson. Mock drafts had Cholowsky at the top for a while, but Emerson was closing fast. When the White Sox finally called Cholowsky’s name, he didn’t hide how much it meant to him.
“I would have been upset if it didn’t work out,” Cholowsky told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers after getting selected. That’s not the kind of thing you hear every day from a top pick. But Cholowsky had visited Chicago last month and said he fell hard for the city. “I got really attached,” he said. The guy was all in.
Cholowsky wasn’t some unknown. He was a star at a Phoenix-area high school and could have been a first-rounder straight out of the gate in 2023. But he told MLB teams he was going to UCLA, no negotiating, and that’s exactly what he did. He spent his freshman year at third base, then shifted to shortstop as a sophomore and never looked back. The glove and arm were always there, and the bat got loud. He hit 23 home runs that season with a slash line of .353/.480/.710. His junior season was right there with it.
How the White Sox Got Here
The White Sox won the draft lottery last offseason, which set this whole thing in motion. It’s been a wild ride for the franchise. Two years ago they set the modern era record for most losses in a season. Now they’re sitting in first place in the American League Central with a 49-45 record. That’s a hell of a turnaround, and adding a player like Cholowsky to the mix only makes the outlook better.
Cholowsky’s maturity shows in how he handled the draft process too. He knew what he wanted in college and stuck with it. He knew what he wanted in a pro team and let the White Sox know it. Now he’s got his shot. And he’s not afraid to admit he would have been crushed if it didn’t happen.
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