Roch Cholowsky

Amateur career

Cholowsky attended Hamilton High School in Chandler, where he played varsity baseball and football. As a senior, he started at quarterback after being backup to Nicco Marcio, but a torn meniscus ended his season after four games. He was a three-star quarterback recruit, ranked 84th nationally and 24th in Arizona, with offers from New Mexico State and Notre Dame.

In baseball, he played shortstop and pitcher. As a junior in 2022 he hit .315 with two home runs; as a senior in 2023 he batted .466 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI, earning Gatorade Arizona Baseball Player of the Year. He went unselected in the 2023 MLB draft and enrolled at UCLA.

College career

As a UCLA freshman in 2024, Cholowsky hit .308 with eight home runs and 33 RBI in 52 games, then played in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Orleans Firebirds. In 2025 he was named Big Ten Conference Baseball Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, leading UCLA to its first College World Series in 12 years. He won the Brooks Wallace Award as the nation's best college shortstop and the Baseball America College Player of the Year Award, hitting .353 with 23 home runs and 74 RBI over 66 games and earning first-team All-American honors.

After that season he joined the United States national baseball team. As a junior in 2026 he hit .320 with 21 home runs and 60 RBI in 60 games; UCLA was eliminated by Saint Mary's in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. He attended the 2026 MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field.

Professional career

Cholowsky was a consensus top-three prospect for the 2026 MLB draft, often viewed as the top prospect. The Chicago White Sox selected him with the first overall pick. He had visited Chicago the month before, meeting owner Jerry Reinsdorf, general manager Chris Getz, and director of hitting Ryan Fuller, and spending time in the clubhouse and walking the city.

After being drafted he said he had fallen in love with the city and hoped the organization felt the same. On July 13, 2026, he signed for a $10.35 million signing bonus, the largest in MLB draft history. He was assigned to the High-A Winston-Salem Dash for his professional debut.

Did You Know?

• Cholowsky is of one-quarter Indian descent.
• His father was drafted 39th overall in the 1991 MLB draft by the St. Louis Cardinals and reached Triple-A.
• He was born in Vallejo, California, and later moved to Chandler, Arizona.