MiLB published its first Top 100 rankings since the 2026 MLB Draft, and fan favorite Roch Cholowsky is already in conversation with today's elite minor league prospects.
Chicago's No. 1 overall pick came in at No. 11 with an expected MLB debut date of 2027. This comes as no surprise, as Cholowsky was initially assigned to High-A instead of Single-A or even Rookie level. His strong college track record and four-plus tools put him ahead of Detroit's 2023 No. 3 overall pick, Max Clark, currently ranked No. 13, as well as Minnesota's 2026 No. 3 overall pick, Vahn Lackey. On all fronts — skills, developmental maturity and baseball IQ — Cholowsky is starting his baseball career at a point where many high school players are coming into their own as minor leaguers, except for one.
Tampa Bay's No. 2 overall pick, Grady Emerson, sits above Cholowsky in the MiLB rankings as the only player from the 2026 draft to crack the Top 10. There's certainly an argument to be made that Cholowsky deserves the higher spot. While Emerson brings a similar four-tool arsenal, Cholowsky entered professional baseball with a much more extensive track record against advanced competition, and the White Sox thought he had enough polish to send him directly to High-A. Emerson, meanwhile, is beginning his professional career at the rookie level.
Cholowsky's first six games shouldn't move the needle much in either direction. He has just five hits and a home run in 30 plate appearances, but that sample is far too small to draw any meaningful conclusions. The more compelling case for ranking Cholowsky ahead of Emerson is where the two players are developmentally right now, not what either has done in his first few weeks as a professional.
The Golden Spikes Award finalist and this year's Big Ten Conference Player of the Year joins middle infielder Caleb Bonemer and shortstop Billy Carlson as the White Sox's representatives on MiLB's Top-100 leaderboard. Bonemer has punched above his tool grades in Single-A, High-A, and Double-A since being drafted in the second round in 2024, while Carlson's injury has kept him from advancing beyond Single-A. Though May and June looked promising for him, Carlson's non-displaced fracture of the tip of his left thumb has set him back and put his development miles behind Cholowsky and Bonemer.
At first glance, Chicago's future infield looks more crowded than the Eisenhower Expressway during rush hour. But Chris Getz and the Sox front office are forming a clear path for Cholowsky to claim a starting infield spot next year.
