The 2026 season ended early for No. 1 pick Roch Cholowsky, with the Chicago White Soxshutting down their shortstop prospect over the weekend. Cholowsky signed the largest signing bonus in MLB Draft history earlier this summer after a terrific career with the UCLA Bruins.
Cholowsky began with rookie ball before earning an early promotion to join the High-A Winston-Salem Dash. In nine games with the Dash, Cholowsky batted just .167 with three doubles and 10 runs batted in 36 at bats before a wrist injury ended his season.
The White Sox are calling it just right wrist soreness for Cholowsky but they'll give the No. 1 pick a prolonged offseason, shutting him down with the Dash having just two more weeks left in their season.
Something Cholowsky did show in the minor leagues was his abilities on the basepaths stealing three bases after stealing just one base all season with UCLA.
The White Sox didn’t only shut down Cholowsky, they also shut down fellow shortstop prospect Billy Carlson who was playing in Low-A. The White Sox have a lot of options at shortstop but none are as exciting as Cholowsky, who MLB.com has as the No. 11 prospect in all of baseball.
UCLA relied heavily on Cholowsky throughout the 2026 season. Cholowsky became a finalist for a second-straight Golden Spikes Award, hitting .320 with 21 home runs in 60 games with the Bruins. Cholowsky was a star throughout his UCLA career, owning a career batting average of .329 and drove in 167 runs.
Cholowsky will surely remain in the minors to begin the 2027 season but the UCLA alum could be on the fast-track to the major leagues if he shows he can hold his own against professional pitching.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: White Sox shut down No. 1 pick Roch Cholowsky for the rest of 2026
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