Get to know No. 1 Draft prospect Roch Cholowsky

Roch Cholowsky is MLB Pipeline’s No. 1-ranked prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft. Here is everything you need to know about Cholowsky.

FAST FACTS

MLB Pipeline ranking: No. 1
Position: SS
Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 202 lbs.
Bats/throws: R/R
Age: 21 (Born April 7, 2005)
School: UCLA

MLB PIPELINE SCOUTING GRADES (20-to-80 scale)

Hit: 60
Power: 60
Run: 45
Arm: 60
Field: 60
Overall: 65

• MLB Pipeline's 2026 Top 200 Draft prospects

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1. He grew up around baseball
Born into a baseball family, Cholowsky grew up immersed in the game. Cholowsky’s father, Dan, attended Cal before being selected in the first round (39th overall) of the 1991 MLB Draft by the Cardinals. He played eight years of professional ball before becoming a Major League scout.

Roch often joined his father on scouting trips, soaking up lessons that went well beyond the box score.

"[My dad's] not only watching how they play, but how they act," Roch told ESPN. "There's a lot of guys that he'd tell me what they were doing and some things that I can add to my game."

Dan also bestowed his first name on his son, though the younger Cholowsky has never actually gone by Daniel. According to his mother, Tika, he’s always been Roch.

“When we were naming our son, my husband did not want a Jr.," Tika said. "His name is Daniel John. My husband threw out names, and he had Thor, Maximillian, a couple others. Daniel Thor Cholowsky ... wasn't sure that was gonna work. So, I threw out my dad's middle name, which was Roch. And it stuck. When Roch was born, I introduced him as, 'Here's Daniel Roch.' Dan was the one who introduced him as Roch. We never called him Daniel."

2. He attended the same high school that produced a former NL MVP
Though Cholowsky was born in Vallejo, Calif., his family relocated to Chandler, Ariz., during his childhood. There, he attended Hamilton High School, which has produced four Major Leaguers.

The list most notably includes current Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger, who won the 2019 National League MVP Award as a member of the Dodgers. Bellinger graduated from Hamilton in 2013 and was selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of that year’s Draft.

3. He nearly played college football
Baseball wasn’t Cholowsky’s only sport at Hamilton. He was also a highly touted quarterback who led his school to a state title in 2022 -- to go with two state baseball championships ('22-23) -- and received an offer to play football for Notre Dame. But he ultimately decided on baseball.

"Just the longevity of it,” Cholowsky said when asked in 2025 why he chose baseball over football. “I grew up in a baseball family, but I always loved football more growing up. But when my senior year came around, a decision needed to be made. I kind of realized that I needed to pick one. There's not many Bo Jacksons or Deion Sanders out there. I just wanted to be realistic with myself, so baseball was the path for me."

4. He might be the best college shortstop prospect in more than two decades
Cholowsky is something of an anomaly being the top-ranked Draft prospect as a college shortstop. According to Baseball America, only eight college shortstops were taken with top-three picks in the first 61 years of the MLB Draft: Bill Almon (1974), Paul Molitor (’77), Hubie Brooks (’78), Augie Schmidt (’82), Jeff Kunkel (’83), Matt Williams (’86), Dansby Swanson (2015) and Alex Bregman (’15). Of those eight, Almon and Swanson were the only ones who went first overall.

That might sound surprising, given that shortstop is a premium position usually stacked with the best athletes on the diamond. But that's exactly why it tracks -- players with that kind of talent rarely make it to campus before getting drafted.

Cholowsky was a Top 50 Draft prospect (No. 44 overall) coming out of high school in 2023, but he was determined to honor his commitment to UCLA and went undrafted. He was the highest-ranked player on MLB Pipeline’s Draft board who wasn’t picked that year.

Cholowsky ended up recording a .329/.447/.624 slash line with 52 home runs over 178 career games for the Bruins and raised his stock to the point where many consider him to be the best college shortstop prospect since Troy Tulowitzki in 2005.

5. He’s one of the best UCLA prospects of all time
Cholowsky is also in rare company among UCLA products. The program’s bona fides are well established in the baseball world -- with alumni including Jackie Robinson and Chase Utley -- but it’s been a long time since a Bruins product was selected with a top-three pick in the MLB Draft.

The last time it happened was 2011, when pitchers Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer went first and third, respectively. Pitcher Tim Leary (second in 1979) and third baseman Troy Glaus (third in 1997) were the only other UCLA products to be selected third or earlier in the first 61 years of the MLB Draft.