Y2Jimmy0

100% coming. They do like Lombard. I'd be really surprised by that pick though because he won't be that cheap.

Yeah it just doesn't matter all that much. Whoever the Sox decide to take won't be turning down what they offer. And they likely don't seriously start talking money until like 24-48 hours before the draft.

Batting average is worse on Fridays for sure. .900 OPS still though. How is Grady Emerson doing on Fridays playing against teenagers from tiny catholic schools in Texas? I guess I'm struggling to measure the importance of these small sample size stats. Nobody ever mentions Vahn Lackey's sophomore season.

You should tweet these numbers so I can retweet them without stealing it haha

Great post.

I never thought Colson was a bad shortstop. I always thought he could stay there. People who thought otherwise didn't watch. Bonemer might legit be 1B or LF though.

Cholowsky is the best college shortstop in like 20 years. These guys usually go pro out of high school. There are some recent college guys who look pretty good though. Kurtz and Wetherholt both very good and Roch is a plus defender at shortstop. Cholowsky's numbers are basically the same as last year. K rate up a tad, walk rate down a tad. Power is similar, chase rate is better, exit velo similar etc. And teams don't really pitch to him that often. I'm actually more impressed with his junior year than sophomore year.

I remember when the author was basically banned from baseball for cheating in the international market with the Braves. The Sox aren't trading Murakami.

I don't think anyone. Bonemer is an exciting prospect but there are real defensive concerns right now and he's striking out 30% of the time in High-A. Cholowsky is an immediate top 10 prospect in baseball with potentially gold glove level defense at shortstop.

Albertus played on Saturday in the ACL.

Roch isn't a great runner and we wasn't great with wood in Cape Cod and Team USA. Those are literally the only blemishes though. Joe is the best. I always enjoy doing his show. I keep coming back to the same thing with Cholowsky. I just don't think the Sox can pass on him and Emerson won't be much cheaper anyway.

They should move Anthony Kay to the bullpen and have Hagen Smith start in the majors.

Thanks Ron. I think he plays in the majors for sure. I'd rather see him than Tanner Murray for example. I'm not sure he ever becomes a regular though.

White Sox 5 Round Mock for FutureSox: https://www.futuresox.net/2026/04/18/chicago-white-sox-2026-5-round-mock-d/

Here's another wrinkle. Casey Wasserman represents Cholowsky and Emerson so he likely breeaks the bonus record at both spots regardless. I don't see a massive savings for Emerson with the Rays slot being worth $10.5 million.

I'm guessing they have a total in mind but he should basically have no restrictions.

In regards to service time, this was always going to be year 7. Might as well get on with it. Schultz will be on an innings limit. They might as well all be in Chicago. There just isn't a world where these guys weren't debuting until 2027 so I'm good with doing this as soon as they're all ready.

I'm guessing it's Shane Smith starting.

I've also talked to scouts, evaluators and media type evaluators about Cholowsky. I get how it works. Cholowsky is the clear #1 choice for basically everyone I talked to. Lackey has a real chance to go #2 but if the White Sox chose to not select Roch for whatever reason, it would likely be to take Emerson.

Do you think Roch Cholowsky has peaked as a newly turned 21-year-old?

It's funny that Roch blew everyone away last year but this year he's just fine even though all of his stats and data are the same. I think he's been more impressive this year than he was last year, personally.

Guessing Lackey doesn't get out of the top 3 at this point. Lebron is the guy who will fall.

It'll be Doug Nikhazy in Charlotte

Yeah it’s what keeps getting lost. Cholowsky is at minimum an above-average defender at shortstop and stays there. Way more valuable.

Shirley’s team identified Crochet as a future starter and drafted him. Had nothing to do with possibility of being quick moving reliever. The drafting has been pretty solid overall. They’d benefit from more picks. The system is basically all draft picks because they get so little out of international market. In regards to Cholowsky, he’s been basically the same player as last year and nobody has overtaken him. Would be stunning if Sox took anyone else. As of now.