2026 MLB Draft Thread...White Sox Control Draft/Roch the House

[Autumn Dreamin]

[southsider2k5]

Initial rankings from The Athletic.  First top 4

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7078205/2026/03/03/2026-mlb-draft-ranking-roch-cholowsky/?source=athletic_thewindup_newsletter&campaign=17086219&userId=6062851

[DirtySox]

BA has a nice piece today on Roch/Lebron, as well as super-hot Will Gasparino. There's also a bunch of solid info on other hot college hitters. Only sharing the Roch/Lebron/Gasparino stuff.
 

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Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
Season stats: .375/.481/1.000, 7 HR, 4 2B, 9.6 K%, 9.6 BB%

The top prospect in the class has done nothing to loosen his grip on 1-1 status three weeks into the season. This past weekend, Cholowsky went 3-for-11 (.273) with a double and a clutch home run that helped UCLA beat Mississippi State, 8-7, in 10 innings.

While it’s early, Cholowsky has shown some improvements with his contact ability. After missing at a 19% rate in 2025, Cholowsky’s miss rate stands at 13% through his first 11 games. And that doesn’t come against weak early-season competition, either. UCLA has faced a tough schedule already (they are 6-0 against Top 25 teams) and Cholowsky has seen lots of real pure stuff. The average fastball velocity Cholowsky has seen so far this season is 92.1 mph, compared to a 90.1 mph average in 2025 over the course of the full season. 

One of Cholowsky’s offensive strengths is getting the ball in the air to the pull side with impressive frequency. All 23 of his home runs in 2025 went to either straight center field or the pull side. So far this spring, Cholowsky is showing more opposite field game power. Four of his home runs have gone to the pull side, one to straight center and two have gone to the right-center gap to his opposite side. 

All of those non-pull home runs have come in two-strike counts, where Cholowsky makes a clear adjustment with his setup. In two-strike counts Cholowsky gets more crouched, much deeper into his lower half and much wider in his stance. He hit well in two-strike counts in 2025 (.330/.455/.637) and is doing more of the same so far in 2026 (.278/.375/.778). 

While the offensive package is impressive—and Cholowsky has gotten a hit in each game he’s played in 2026—he’s also a lights out defender at shortstop. He looks like a big league shortstop now, with smooth actions, excellent hands and tremendous confidence at the position. 

Cholowsky makes high-effort plays look routine and has the tools to make all the plays required at the position. His arm is plus, and he amplifies that tool with an excellent internal clock and a quick exchange when necessary. On one tricky play deep in the hole to his arm side, Cholowsky planted his back foot and got rid of the ball quickly, putting it low and on a skip to beat a 4.33-second runner to first. 

Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama
Season stats: .326/.491/.860, 7 HR, 2 2B, 12.3 K%, 17.5 BB%

Thirty minutes north of Globe Life Field, scouts could get a look at the No. 2 shortstop in the college class, Lebron, who was playing in the Frisco College Baseball Classic. He went 6-for-13 (.462) at the tournament with two home runs and two doubles.

The most striking aspect of Lebron’s game is the ease with which he plays. Everything he does looks smooth and effortless on the field. He’s a butter smooth mover defensively who looks like an elite athlete even when he’s not moving at 100% speed in pre-game warmups. The same is true of his actions in the box, where he generates shockingly easy power and bat speed with a quick, low-effort swing. 

Arguably the biggest difference between Lebron and Cholowsky is their physicality and footspeed. Cholowsky has a thicker frame at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, while Lebron is a bit more lean and wiry at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds. And where speed is Cholowsky’s lightest tool, Lebron is a plus runner who accelerates rapidly with smooth, loping strides. He should be a consistent base-stealing threat in a way that Cholowsky is unlikely to be. Across parts of three seasons he’s gone 34-for-35 on the bases.

Lebron’s athleticism translates to exciting defensive upside at shortstop, as well, and he has the capacity to make impressive highlight-reel plays. He attacks slow rollers with confidence and has impressive body control and balance when throwing without his feet set. On Sunday, he had multiple impressive throws like this, including one double play where he ranged to his forehand to the left of the second base bag, then had to track back to the bag and make a quick throw to first base while moving across the second base bag towards third.

I do have slightly less confidence in his hands compared to Cholowsky, as Lebron botched one forehand groundball while ranging up the middle and has been marginally more error-prone throughout his career. Still, there’s no reason to think Lebron can’t become a plus defender.

Lebron’s tools, athleticism and upside potential could easily warrant him being the second pick in the draft, right after Cholowsky. For him, the key will be conference competition. A year ago, he torched non-conference pitching and was one of the best offensive players in the country before fading against SEC play. He’s been excellent offensively once again in 2026. He just needs to maintain that. 

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Will Gasparino, OF, UCLA
Season stats: .378/.521/1.270, 10 HR, 1 2B, 16.7 K%, 16.7 BB%

Gasparino is currently making the entire industry nervous. 

He’s been one of the hottest hitters in college baseball, and after 11 games, he leads the nation with 10 home runs. He’s made clear swing changes that seem to be paying off in a big way, and scouts are now wondering whether they are simply light on their hit tool projections or whether this is just a flash in the pan from one of the most fascinating players in the draft. 

Gasparino has been a notable name for years. He’s the son of Dodgers Vice President Billy Gasparino and ranked as the No. 92 player in the 2023 class out of Harvard-Westlake High in Studio City, Calif. He has an outstanding combination of size and physical tools that gives him huge upside potential, but he struggled with contact ability and swing decisions with the Longhorns. 

While it’s early, Gasparino looks different in 2026. He’s tinkered with his swing and setup for a few years now, but in 2026 Gasparino looks a lot more comfortable and relaxed in the box, with more rhythm in his hands and less stiffness overall than his 2025 version. He’s a bit more upright and he seems to have simplified the leg kick he uses to start his swing. Additionally, Gasparino’s barrel is now held in a more neutral position—compared to a steep tilt behind his head a year ago—and he seems to be having a far easier time getting the barrel into good hitting positions.

His operation just looks much simpler, freer and easier than it did a year ago. The early returns are great. He’s hitting the ball in the air with greater frequency than he did in either of his first two seasons, which has allowed him to tap into his double-plus raw power more often. He’s already just three homers shy of matching his career-high—13—from the 2025 season, which took him 58 games.

And this isn’t simply a case of Gasparino beating up on bad pitching. As mentioned with Cholowsky, UCLA has played high-quality competition this spring. At the Amegy Tournament this weekend he went 5-for-11 (.455) with four home runs, two walks (plus an intentional walk) and two strikeouts. He’s driving all sorts of pitch types with authority. 

On Friday, he drove an 84 mph slider on the outer rail to the right-center gap. On Saturday, he drove a hanging, 78 mph changeup over the heart of the plate 427 feet into the upper deck in left. And then on Sunday he flicked his hands at the top of the zone to a 94 mph fastball and drove that one out of the park to the pull side. 

Gasparino has not become a flawless hitter overnight. 

He does still chase out of the zone more than you’d like to see. There are still miss questions that he’ll need to address. Specifically scouts wonder if he’ll be susceptible to velocity in on his hands and soft stuff away at the next level.

He’s also a 6-foot-6, 220-pound center fielder who runs well, throws well and has jaw-dropping power upside—which he’s now fully coming into in games. Gasparino could continue to be a polarizing, head-scratching sort of prospect for the entire draft cycle given his tools and track record, but he might have finally figured something out as a junior with UCLA. 

And he’s definitely the most interesting 8-hole hitter in the country. 

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-draft-buzz-roch-cholowsky-vs-justin-lebron-will-gasparinos-hot-start-18-more-prospects-to-know/

Edited Wednesday at 06:26 PM by DirtySox

[Boopa1219]

On 3/3/2026 at 12:59 PM, Autumn Dreamin said:

I need the Sox to draft this absolute freak in round 2 please. He's everything their system needs. He's an outfielder, he's an up the middle guy, he has power potential, he's a freak athlete. Need them to float him down to 41

[joejoesox]

great breakdown 

[DirtySox]

On 3/5/2026 at 11:19 AM, Boopa1219 said:

I need the Sox to draft this absolute freak in round 2 please. He's everything their system needs. He's an outfielder, he's an up the middle guy, he has power potential, he's a freak athlete. Need them to float him down to 41

Padres draft pick if I've ever seen one.

[DirtySox]

Roch and Gas both went deep today.

 

Edited 10 hours ago by DirtySox

[DirtySox]

If the White Sox had a middle of the first round draft pick as opposed to 1.1, I'd be super intrigued with taking Gasparino. Still super early, but he's been nutty with the power.

[caulfield12]

Cholowsky and Gasparino both homered again in an 11-1 shellacking of Ohio State...Roch also had three walks