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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Roch Cholowsky? A rock solid guy.

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Roch Cholowsky
Cholowsky with the United States national baseball team in 2025
Chicago White Sox
Infielder
Born: (2005-04-07) April 7, 2005 (age 21)
Vallejo, California, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Daniel Roch Cholowsky (/rɒk tʃəˈlaʊski/; born April 7, 2005) is an American baseball infielder in the Chicago White Sox organization. He played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins and was drafted first overall by the White Sox in the 2026 MLB draft.

Amateur career

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Cholowsky was born in Vallejo, California, and moved to Chandler, Arizona as a child.[1] He attended Hamilton High School in Chandler, where he played on the baseball team as a shortstop and pitcher and on the football team as a quarterback. He was ranked a three-star recruit as a quarterback and received offers from New Mexico State University and the University of Notre Dame.[2] As a junior for Hamilton in 2022, he hit .315 with two home runs.[3] As a senior in 2023, he batted .466 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI and was named the Gatorade Arizona Baseball Player of the Year.[4] He was considered a top prospect for the 2023 Major League Baseball draft, but went unselected and enrolled at UCLA to play college baseball.[5][6]

As a freshman at UCLA in 2024, Cholowsky played in 52 games and hit .308 with eight home runs and 33 RBI.[7] After the season, he played in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Orleans Firebirds.[8][9] As a sophomore in 2025, Cholowsky was named the Big Ten Conference Baseball Player of the Year, Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and helped lead UCLA to their first College World Series in 12 years.[10] He also was awarded the Brooks Wallace Award, given annually to the nation's best college shortstop, as well as being awarded the Baseball America College Player of the Year Award.[11][12] Cholowsky finished the season with a .353 batting average, 23 home runs, and 74 RBI over 66 games and earned first team All-American honors from Baseball America.[13] After the season, he was named to the United States national baseball team.[14] As a junior in 2026, Cholowsky hit .320 with 21 home runs and 60 RBI across 60 games, his season ending with UCLA being eliminated by Saint Mary's in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional.[15] He was named the Big Ten Conference Baseball Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.[16] He was also one of three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award alongside Landon Hairston and winner Daniel Jackson.[17] After the season, he was invited to attend the 2026 MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field.[18]

Professional career

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Cholowsky was considered a consensus top three prospect for the 2026 Major League Baseball draft, with many evaluators viewing him as the top prospect in the class.[19] He was selected by the Chicago White Sox with the first overall pick in the draft.[20] Cholowsky had visited Chicago the month prior and met with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, general manager Chris Getz, and director of hitting Ryan Fuller, alongside spending time in the White Sox club house and walking the streets of the city.[21] Following his selection in the draft, Cholowsky said "I left the next morning and called my agent and told him that’s where I want to be and he’s got to do whatever he can to make it work. I know that’s where I want to be, and I hope you guys feel the same way about me" and that he "fell in love with the city."[22] He additionally stated "I got really attached. I would have been upset if it didn't work out."[23] On July 13, 2026, Cholowsky signed with the White Sox for a below-slot $10.35 million signing bonus (with the slot value being $11.35 million), the highest ever for a drafted player.[24][25]

Personal life

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Cholowsky grew up a San Francisco Giants fan with his favorite player being fellow shortstop Brandon Crawford.[26]

References

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  1. ↑ Harrigan, Thomas. "Get to know No. 2 Draft prospect Roch Cholowsky". MLB.com. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  2. ↑ "UCLA's Roch Cholowsky Nearly Played College Football". UCLA Bruins On SI. June 12, 2025. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  3. ↑ Askeland, Kevin (January 17, 2023). "High school baseball: 2023 Preseason MaxPreps All-America Team". MaxPreps.com.
  4. ↑ "Roch Cholowsky Gatorade 2022 - 2023: Player of the Year Baseball - Arizona PLAYER OF THE YEAR". playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
  5. ↑ https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/freshman-spotlight-uclas-roch-cholowsky-packs-a-great-glove/#:~:text=Cholowsky%20was%20named%20the%202023,record%20and%20a%20state%20championship.
  6. ↑ Law, Keith (June 29, 2023). "Law's MLB Draft scouting report: Latest on Roch Cholowsky, Jacob Wilson and Homer Bush Jr" – via NYTimes.com.
  7. ↑ Price, Lawrence (February 13, 2025). "7 college baseball teams that could win their new conferences after realignment". NCAA.com. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Roch Cholowsky". capecodleague.com. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  9. ↑ Pontes, Geoff; Flaherty, Peter (June 28, 2024). "Early Cape League Standouts From 2025, 2026 MLB Draft Classes".
  10. ↑ "'Not Done Yet': UCLA, Cholowsky's Omaha Dreams Coming True". UCLA Bruins On SI. June 9, 2025.
  11. ↑ UCLA's Roch Cholowsky named 2025 Brooks Wallace Award winner as nation's top shortstop. College Baseball Foundation MLB.com, June 13, 2025
  12. ↑ Rudner, Jacob (June 24, 2025). "Roch Cholowsky Named Baseball America's 2025 College Baseball Player Of The Year". Baseball America. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  13. ↑ Cholowsky, Levu Receive All-America Honors from Baseball America. UCLABRuins.com June 20, 2025
  14. ↑ Rudner, Jacob (August 19, 2025). "Top 10 MLB Draft Prospects From USA Baseball's 2025 Collegiate National Team". Baseball America. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Which UCLA Baseball Players Could Leave for MLB Draft". UCLA Bruins On SI. June 1, 2026. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  16. ↑ Bolch, Ben (May 19, 2026). "UCLA's Roch Cholowsky, John Savage win major Big Ten awards". Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  17. ↑ Price, Lawrence. "Breaking down college baseball's 2026 Golden Spikes Award finalists". NCAA. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  18. ↑ Norris, Josh (June 15, 2026). "2026 MLB Draft Combine: See All 335 Players Attending". Baseball America. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  19. ↑ Cano, Jesús (July 11, 2026). "White Sox take UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with No. 1 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  20. ↑ Passan, Jeff. "UCLA's Roch Cholowsky taken No. 1 overall in draft by White Sox". www.espn.com. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  21. ↑ Greenberg, Jon (July 12, 2026). "Roch Cholowsky was the perfect name, No. 1 pick for the ascending White Sox". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  22. ↑ Merkin, Scott. "Roch and roll: No. 1 pick Cholowsky 'fell in love' with Chicago". MLB.com. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  23. ↑ Kwiecinski, Chris (July 11, 2026). "Why Roch Cholowsky was the right pick for the Chicago White Sox at No. 1 overall". FOX 32 Chicago. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  24. ↑ Randhawa, Manny (July 13, 2026). "White Sox to sign No. 1 overall pick Cholowsky to record deal (source)". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2026. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  25. ↑ Axisa, Mike (July 13, 2026). "2026 MLB Draft: No. 1 pick Roch Cholowsky sets record with $10.35 million signing bonus". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on July 14, 2026. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  26. ↑ McNeill, Dylan; read, UCLA Wire·2 min (May 9, 2026). "Could one West Coast MLB team be prepping to select Roch Cholowsky?". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved July 12, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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