The Chicago White Sox were not eligible to be in the lottery this year, forcing them back to the 10th overall selection in the 2025 MLB Draft, despite a league-worst 41-121 record in 2024.
While Chicago's selection of Billy Carlson in the first round of the draft has White Sox fans excited, it was still difficult to see talents like Ethan Holliday and Kade Anderson come off the board knowing Chicago would have been able to draft them in the old format.
For the 2026 MLB Draft, however, the White Sox will be lottery eligible again. The Colorado Rockies are going to be kicked out of the Top 10, leaving the White Sox as the favorites for the No. 1 overall pick.
With a little bit of lottery ball luck, the South Siders may finally have an opportunity to land their next face of the franchise.
Way-too-early 2026 mock drafts are already linking the White Sox to UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.
Roch Cholowsky: Future White Sox shortstop?
Roch Cholowsky is a 20-year-old shortstop from Chandler, Arizona, He attended Hamilton HS, which is the alma mater of Cody Bellinger and White Sox pitching prospect Shane Murphy.
After a good, but not great freshman year at UCLA, Cholowsky became one of college baseball's biggest stars in 2025.
In 66 games for the Bruins this season, Cholowsky batted .353 with a 1.190 OPS. He had 23 home runs and 19 doubles in 252 at-bats.
He is a college shortstop with a plus hit tool, plus power, and elite defense. If the 2026 MLB Draft happened today, there's a really good chance that Cholowsky would go first overall. He looks like a franchise-altering player, and the White Sox are still looking for that stud position player to build around.
"A true No. 1 overall pick candidate, Cholowsky is a major contributor on both sides of the ball," writes MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo. "He's an outstanding defender at shortstop and took a huge step forward at the plate during an All-American sophomore season in which he compiled a slash line of .353/.480/.710 with 23 homers for the Bruins."
To be fair, a lot changes over the course of a year. The way-too-early mock draft that Mayo did for 2025 had some accuracies, with nine projected first-round picks landing in the first round proper (top 27 picks).
But that mock draft also had Jace LaViolette (27th overall), Cam Cannarella (43rd overall), and Xavier Neyens (21st overall) going in the Top 5.
Roch Cholowsky could end up being a first-round pick next year, but could be nowhere close to the conversation for first overall. There's a lot of talented high school shortstops in the 2026 draft class as well that the White Sox could view as great compliments to Billy Carlson.
Regardless, Cholowsky is a name to watch for White Sox fans over the next year. He could end up being the superstar the South Side has been waiting for.