White Sox Shut Down Roch Cholowsky's 2026 Season
The White Sox are taking a cautious approach with their prized prospect, ending his first professional season after just nine games with High-A Winston-Salem.
Video Transcript
Major news for the Chicago White Sox farm system as first overall pick in the 2026 MLB draft, Rock Chalowski, done for the 2026 season.
The team is shutting him down, for the rest of the year.
The initial expectation was that his wrist soreness would result in just a few days off, day-to-day stuff, that Chalowski would be back in the lineup for high A Winston-Salem in no time.
But with the season ending now on September sixth, the White Sox are choosing to take a conservative approach by shutting his season down early.
In nine games with Winston-Salem after signing, Chalowski hit one sixty-seven with one home run, ten RBIs, a six fifty-nine OPS.
Still, the numbers, the injury, this is nothing for White Sox fans to worry about.
The projection remains the same for Chalowski, both with his ceiling, both with his timeline to reach Major League Baseball, and two weeks weren't going to change that one way or the other.
But in addition to Chalowski, the White Sox also shutting down shortstop Billy Carlson.
He has a skin infection.
A first-round pick by the White Sox in twenty twenty-five, the tenth overall pick.
Didn't have a great year.
Fifty-seven games in low A Kannapolis.
Some frustrating injuries for Carlson.
Hit two fifty-six with a seven twenty-six OPS, but a seven fifty-three OPS over his final forty-four games, I do think gives the White Sox some confidence that he can take a significant step forward during his age twenty campaign next year.
Big thing for Carlson is going to be the slug.
You have to see the pop in the bat improve.
And one of the prevailing questions surrounding Chalowski right now is whether or not he's done.
We could see him still in the Arizona Fall League.
Maybe he takes some rest, recovers, gets that wrist healthy, and then once baseball wraps up and the AFL begins, he gets back into action.
That experience against high-end minor league competition invaluable for a player like Chalowski, who the White Sox still plan to fast-track through the minor league system.
So a little bit disappointing that we don't get to see either one of them for the final few weeks, but the White Sox playing it safe with two of their top prospects.
