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White Sox Own No. 1 Pick as 2026 MLB Draft Opens

Sport
July 10, 2026
Illustration of a draft podium with a blank jersey and a draft card

The 2026 MLB Draft opens Saturday, and the Chicago White Sox pick first. Chicago earned the No. 1 selection through the draft lottery. The White Sox went 60-102 last season to land the top spot.

Chicago Faces a Three-Player Decision at No. 1

The 2026 MLB Draft runs Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia. The draft coincides with MLB All-Star Week in the same city. Rounds one through three go Saturday at the Philadelphia Convention Center. The White Sox make the first pick around 1 p.m. ET. Picks one through 10 air on NBC and Peacock. Chicago holds the No. 1 selection for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Three names lead Chicago's board at No. 1 overall. UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky ranks as the draft's top prospect. Cholowsky hit .329 with 52 home runs across three UCLA seasons. Cholowsky drew 105 walks against 100 strikeouts in that span. Analysts view Cholowsky as a franchise cornerstone up the middle. Cholowsky profiles as a rare power-and-patience shortstop.

Two more prospects round out the top tier for Chicago. Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson offers the highest ceiling in the class. Emerson attended Fort Worth Christian and won National Gatorade Player of the Year. Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey ranks third among the group. Emerson and Cholowsky give the class two elite shortstop prospects.

Scouts compare Cholowsky to the best college shortstops of the past decade. ESPN rates Cholowsky as the top college shortstop since 2015. Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman went first and second that year. Swanson joined Arizona and Bregman joined Houston in 2015. Both players became All-Stars, which raises expectations for Cholowsky.

The No. 1 pick reshapes a rebuilding White Sox franchise. Chicago lost 102 games last season and needs a cornerstone. Chicago last picked first in 1977, when it selected Harold Baines. Baines went on to make six All-Star teams in his career. A shortstop like Cholowsky could anchor the roster for years. The top pick also carries the draft's largest signing bonus slot.

Chicago's choice could set the tone for the entire first round. Jackson Flora projects as the first pitcher off the board. The Atlanta Braves hold the ninth pick on Saturday. Teams will make 20 rounds of selections across the two days. Rounds four through 20 follow on Sunday in Philadelphia.

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ESPN, CBS Sports, and MLB.com reported the 2026 MLB Draft order and the prospect rankings. Cholowsky's college statistics came from ESPN's draft coverage.