Son of a … scout: UCLA’s Cholowsky, Gasparino sons of longtime scouts

In 2026, potential No. 1 overall pick Roch Cholowsky and teammate Will Gasparino, projected to be a Day 1 pick as well, combined to hit 41 homers and drive in 124 runs for the UCLA Bruins. It was the first year that Cholowsky, the shortstop currently ranked No. 2 on MLB Pipeline's Top 250, and Gasparino, the outfielder who comes in at No. 76, have played a season together, but their relationship dates back to their time in the Cape Cod League together.

No, not as players in the college wood bat summer league -- though they were both there for stretches, on separate teams, in 2024. This friendship started back in 2010, at age 5, when the Cholowskys and Gasparinos shared a house for a week on the Massachusetts island escape.

It was a working vacation for their dads. Billy Gasparino and Daniel Cholowsky were both scouts with the Toronto Blue Jays at the time. Gasparino had been elevated to a national crosschecker position while Cholowsky had been promoted to a regional crosschecking gig when they were both assigned to cover the Cape Cod League for the same week. So the families decided to stay together and make a family trip out of it.

"From Arizona [where the Cholowskys live] to California [home for the Gasparinos], we'd see each other once or twice a year, get the kids together, let them run around," Billy Gasparino said. "It was a nice break and bond, someone you can relate to with everything going on in our life.

"The Cape is wonderful. It was always a treat from a scouting sense. We were both assigned coverage the same week. We decided to bring the families together, house, pool, we had a great time. I remember trying to make sure the kids didn't get hurt in the pool, them chasing foul balls at games, it was such a great time."

It's a bond that's remained strong since then, even as the two scouts have worked for other organizations. Cholowsky covers the Four Corners for the Cincinnati Reds -- he had to recuse himself from scouting his own son when he was an Arizona high school standout who could have gone pretty high in the 2023 Draft if it weren't for his commitment to attend UCLA. Gasparino is now a vice president and assistant general manager after years as the Dodgers' scouting director.

"We always followed Will and I know Billy followed Roch," Daniel Cholowsky said. "He was recruited out of UCLA out of high school as well. Roch had already committed. That's when it came up, it would be cool if Will went there as well."

Instead, Will headed to Texas, intent on an experience out of California, where he had grown up. Ironically, over the pair's first two seasons in college, it was Gasparino who tried to get Cholowsky to join him in the Longhorns' lineup.

"We needed a shortstop, and I was like, 'Hey, have fun playing in front of 1,000 fans at night. Come to Texas and you'll get whatever you want and you get to play in a huge environment and go to cool football games,'" Will Gasparino said. "It was always me trying to recruit him and it's pretty funny it went the other way."

Gasparino transferred back home to southern California to play for the Bruins for his junior season, joining his old friend in one of the best college lineups in the country. While UCLA was upset in Regional play, it was the top-ranked team in the country nearly all year long and finished with an astounding 52-8 record.

"Every year, we'd go back and forth, half kidding, you come to us, we come to you," Billy Gasparino said. "It definitely was a recruiting battle. Roch won out; I guess he's a better salesman."

There are pros and cons, mostly the former, for this version of growing up around the game. Both Cholowsky and Gasparino might see things with a keener critical eye -- Gasparino says teammates and friends often ask him to evaluate a player or project where he might get drafted -- and there's perhaps a greater understanding of how the process works.

"I'd go to his in-home meetings in the fall," Roch Cholowsky recalled. "One of the most memorable ones was down at [University of Arizona] and Austin Wells. Being able to see him in the big leagues now is pretty cool. Going to Area Codes was pretty fun, being a bat boy. Me and one of the other scout's sons would be bat boys every time. Those are two memories I have growing up."

"Resource-wise, you're obviously well-connected to a lot more things and I'm very fortunate to have access to those things, swing coach, mental coaches, strength guys," Will Gasparino said. "Just growing up in the locker room, seeing how big leaguers go about their work, you can pick things up every single day from them."

The only downside might be if the scout-dads got over-involved in their sons' journeys. Scouts are paid to have opinions, and it wouldn't be hard to imagine a scenario where they become overbearing in managing what's going on with the next generation. Luckily for Will and Roch, that's been far from the case.

"He's been my biggest role model growing up," Roch said about his dad. "Outside of baseball, just showing me how to be a man. But with baseball, he always let me do my thing. He never really pushed it on me. Whatever you want to do, you can do growing up. I think that's why I played so many sports growing up, because I wanted to do everything.

"Having a baseball guy like that in the house, he could have pushed it on me, made me work more than I would have wanted to at a young age. He really took the dad role as best as he could, put that before baseball growing up, which I really appreciated, let me find my love for the game."

"I think he has good feel for when he needs to be a dad and when he needs to be a scout or coach," Will said. "I think he can transition well from both and knows what I need when the time is needed."

Both the kids and their dads give a ton of credit to the women steering the ship. Tika Cholowsky and Jenna Gasparino, the moms/wives, are often the first point of contact and keep things moving in the right direction. The Cholowskys would stay at Chez Gasparino when coming in for UCLA home games, while Daniel and Billy also have each other to make sure they don't go too overboard in any way.

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"At games, we'd talk about approaches, he'd talk about Roch, I'd talk about Will a little bit," Daniel said. "We trust each other. Certain at-bats, we'd break it down a little bit.

"Sometimes, the dad lens can get a little blurry. But a different perspective, he's a different scout than I am; it's good to hear a different opinion. He can be more objective [about Roch] and I'm not as emotionally invested in Will."

"We both have been able to be a sounding board for each other," Billy agreed. "There are some hard times. We've talked a lot over the years ... Can you talk to Roch, or can you talk to Will? That's been super helpful for both of us."

And no one could have possibly imagined they'd be preparing for the Draft together 16 years ago back in the Cape house.

"It is pretty crazy," Billy said. "This really is kind of full circle. Who would have thought back then that this would even be possible? It's wild. Back then, you just hope they're happy."