The Chicago White Sox select UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. Multiple outlets describe Cholowsky as the consensus top prospect ahead of the draft, and several report that he is widely viewed as the draft’s best and most ready option. Cholowsky, 21, has a college record that includes a .320/.452/.636 batting line as a junior with the Bruins, with 21 home runs, 60 RBIs, 10 doubles, 73 runs, and a 1.088 OPS over 60 games.
Sources also place the pick in historical context: Cholowsky is the first UCLA product to go No. 1 since 2010, when the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole. The Athletic adds that Cholowsky enters the draft as the No. 1 prospect. CBS Sports notes that he is the first college shortstop drafted first overall since Dansby Swanson was taken in 2015. While outlets differ in emphasis—some focus on projections and readiness—agree on the central outcome: the White Sox draft Cholowsky first overall.
