The White Sox haven't picked first overall since they took Harold Baines back in 1977. On Saturday they finally got the chance again, and the front office went with the guy most of the industry already had penciled in: UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.
The Chicago White Sox are choosing UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft, sources tell ESPN.
The name broke almost simultaneously across every major MLB insider account. Jim Callis had it first, Mark Feinsand and MLB Trade Rumors followed within minutes, all converging on the same read: Chicago wasn't going to overthink this one.
The White Sox select UCLA SS Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 overall pick in the @MLBDraft.
Cholowsky isn't a projection guy — he's coming off a monster junior year at UCLA, hitting .320/.452/.636 with 21 home runs and matching his strikeout total with 36 walks in 60 games. MLB Pipeline has floated the kind of comp that gets scouts fired up, calling him potentially the best all-around college shortstop prospect since Troy Tulowitzki. He's also the second UCLA product to go No. 1 overall, following Gerrit Cole to the Pirates back in 2011 — pretty good company for a college program to be keeping.
The moment clearly got to him. Cameras caught Cholowsky choked up right after his name was called, which tracks — waiting your whole life for a draft, then hearing you're going No. 1, will do that to a 21-year-old.
Roch Cholowsky was emotional after being selected first overall by the White Sox https://t.co/Ywv6X7JCA5
What makes this pick notable beyond the player himself is the context around it. Chris Getz has spent the last two years quietly rebuilding a team that lost 100-plus games three straight seasons into one that's sitting in first place in the AL Central at the midpoint of 2026. Colson Montgomery's development, the Miguel Vargas trade, the Munetaka Murakami signing — the roster's already trending up. Getz reportedly told his draft room to take the best player regardless of fit or bonus-slot convenience, and landing a shortstop this polished, this fast, gives the White Sox a potential middle-of-the-order piece to pair with whatever the big league club is building toward.
MLB Trade Rumors laid out the 1-1 selection as the draft's headline result.
None of this fast-tracks Cholowsky to the South Side — college bats even this advanced usually need a full year or two in the minors before a big league look. But between the draft slot, the surrounding roster's unexpected surge, and a prospect scouts are already comping to a Hall of Fame-caliber shortstop, the White Sox suddenly have one of the more interesting storylines in baseball heading into the deadline.