No. 1 Draft prospect Cholowsky rocks pair of homers amid early hot stretch
The best all-around college shortstop prospect since Troy Tulowitzki? The most clear-cut No. 1 Draft prospect since Adley Rutschman?
Roch Cholowsky garnered some lofty expectations heading into his junior campaign at UCLA. On Tuesday afternoon, he gave a glimpse into why, posting his first multihomer performance of the season in the Bruins’ 13-5 win over Tulane.
The No. 1 Draft prospect in the 2026 class per MLB Pipeline also tallied a double and drew a walk in the contest, raising his slash line to .438/.500/1.188 through four games. Six of Cholowsky’s seven knocks this season have gone for extra bases -- three for home runs.
The 6-foot-2, 202-pound shortstop, who also starred as a quarterback in high school, is the most-hyped preseason Draft prospect in several years. He sports four 60-grade tools and couples his top-notch raw abilities with strong on-field production. While the sample size is small this season, Cholowsky’s hot start is a continuation of his eye-popping sophomore campaign. Last year, he led all underclassmen with 23 homers (tied for fifth most in Division I), while posting a 1.190 OPS for the Bruins. In 2026, he’ll step into an even larger role as a driving force and leader for UCLA -- tabbed as the top team in the nation in D1Baseball.com’s most recent Top 25 rankings.
“We get 30-40 [scouts] out there sometimes, watching our intrasquad scrimmages,” Cholowsky said in a recent episode of the MLB Pipeline Podcast. “We’ve got 11, 12 Draft-eligible guys that are very, very talented. We’ve got a lot of guys who can really play.”
Among that group is first baseman Mulivai Levu. The California native, ranked as MLB’s No. 94 Draft prospect, creates a potent 1-2 punch with Cholowsky in the middle of the Bruins’ lineup. In the win over Tulane, Levu collected four hits and three RBIs.
On the podcast, Cholowsky mentioned that seeing Kevin McGonigle -- whom he played with as a high schooler with USA Baseball -- as the No. 2 prospect on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list is “really cool.”
Shortly after he's selected in July, it will likely be Cholowsky’s name near the top of that list.
UCLA’s next game is on Friday, beginning a three-game weekend series against TCU.