There was plenty of debate over which direction the Chicago White Sox would go with the No. 1 pick of the MLB draft.
In the end, the Sox looked to the west and selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.
“You look at what he’s done throughout his baseball career, we had interest with him in high school and then to watch his college career unfold and see what he accomplished and the impact he had on his teammates in that program and to envision that type of influence within this organization is something that attracted us to select him at No. 1,” Sox general manager Chris Getz said Saturday at Rate Field.
As a top pick, Cholowsky knows he has joined select company.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Cholowsky said during a videoconference call.
Cholowsky, 21, slashed .320/.452/.636 with 10 doubles, 21 home runs, 60 RBIs, 73 runs and a 1.088 OPS in 60 games as a junior with the Bruins.
“He’s a quarterback on the field,” Getz said. “It just stood out. It really did. What he’s accomplished, he’s a famous player, a guy that was projected to be the overall No. 1 pick coming into this season. So there’s a lot of eyes and there’s a lot of critiquing and oftentimes there can be fatigue.
“In this particular draft, there were three players at the top (Cholowsky, high school shortstop Grady Emerson and Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey
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). You can make an argument for any of them. But when we got to know Roch, and we have a really strong feeling of our foundation and what we are about, this felt like it was the best fit.”The pick drew a big cheer from fans watching the video board at Rate Field before Saturday’s 1-0 win against the Athletics. And as Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Cholowsky as the top pick, the handful of Sox fans attending the draft at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia started cheering and twirling their MLB-issued towels to celebrate.
“It was very emotional the last few days,” Cholowsky said. “I was worried about it not working out. Getting the call from my agent that him and Getz were able to work something out today, I was jumping around my hotel room. There were a lot of tears.
“Being able to hear my name called, it was unbelievable.”
Cholowsky said watching the telecast of the draft that he “heard Roch and kind of lost it.”
Cholowsky hit .329/.448/.624 with 41 doubles, 52 home runs, 167 RBIs, 105 walks, 191 runs and a 1.072 OPS in 178 games over three seasons with UCLA. He became the third player named Big Ten Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons.
The consensus first-team All-American was ranked the second-best prospect in the 2026 class, according to MLB Pipeline.
“You’re talking about a special college player who the White Sox feel like can be better,” director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley said at Rate Field. “At the end of the day, Roch’s been the favorite. He’s that talented, he’s that gifted. We were super excited. He wants to win more than anyone I’ve ever seen at the college level.”
Cholowsky was recommended by Sox area scout Carlos Muniz.
The Sox went local with the Competitive Balance Round A selection (No. 34), drafting Nazareth infielder Landon Thome. The son of Hall of Famer Jim Thome, Landon hit .535 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs and was 49-for-50 in stolen-base attempts as a senior.
“We think it’s an elite hitter who’s going to grow into power, who’s going to continue to grow and develop his game rapidly,” Shirley said.
The Sox selected infielder Cole Prosek of Magnolia Heights High School in Mississippi in the second round.
“To be able to bring in Landon, one of the top left-handed high school bats, in addition to Prosek as well, we felt they were the best high school left-handed bats remaining in the draft,” Getz said.
It’s a draft that will forever have Cholowsky’s name at the top. He is the third No. 1 pick in Sox history, joining Danny Goodwin in 1971 and Hall of Famer Harold Baines in 1977.
Cholowsky visited the Sox in June and was in attendance for Braden Montgomery’s walk-off home run against the Atlanta Braves. He left the trip thinking the Sox felt like home.
“Being able to work it out in the long end, the tears were all happy tears,” Cholowsky said. “I’m very excited to be a part of it, I fell in love with the city while I was out there and very excited to get back.”
Day 1 picks
- No. 1, first round: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
- No. 34, Competitive Balance Round A (from Pittsburgh Pirates): Landon Thome, INF, Nazareth
- No. 41, 2nd round: Cole Prosek, INF, Magnolia Heights HS (Miss.)
- No. 77, 3rd round: Joey Volchko, P, Georgia
- No. 105, 4th round: Eric Segura, P, Oregon State
Day 2 picks
- Round 5, No. 137: Cal Scolari, RHP, Oregon
- Round 6, No. 166: Alex Weingartner, OF, St. Augustine Prep HS (NJ)
- Round 7, No. 195: Clay Burdette, OF, Xavier
- Round 8, No. 225: Jayson Jones, 3B, Wichita State
- Round 9, No. 255: Luke Craytor, RHP, Virginia Tech
- Round 10, No. 285: Matthew Bucciero, OF, Fairfield
- Round 11, No. 315: Kyle Casteel, RHP, Butler HS (Pa.)
- Round 12, No. 345: Braden Holcomb, OF, Vanderbilt
- Round 13, No. 375: Grayson Fitzwater, 1B, Virginia Military Institute
- Round 14, No. 405: Isaac Yeager, RHP, Oregon State
- Round 15, No. 435: Cameron Johnson, LHP, Oklahoma
- Round 16, No. 465: Darin Horn, RHP, Coastal Carolina
- Round 17, No. 495: Crew McChesney, OF, BYU
- Round 18, No. 525: Jackson Bergman, RHP, Indiana
- Round 19, No. 555: Jake Berkland, SS, Minnesota State Mankato
- Round 20, No. 585: Connor Fennell, RHP, Vanderbilt