Chicago White Sox earn praise for 2026 draft haul

The Chicago White Sox find themselves in a spot not many believed they would be in at this point of the season. With the MLB All-Star break here, the White Sox sit in first place in the AL Central.

They have been one of the most surprising teams so far this season, surging after a bit of a sluggish start. While the White Sox are hoping to speed up this rebuild and get a taste of the playoffs this season, the future is also looking bright.

Over the weekend, the White Sox had the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, selecting former UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky. The White Sox then took Landon Thome, out of Nazareth Academy, the son of Jim Thome at No. 34 overall. While those two picks stand out, the White Sox are earning some praise for their entire draft class already.

MLB analyst was blown away by White Sox draft haul

Senior MLB writer Jim Callis focuses on the draft year round, so he knows a lot about each class and prospect. When he praises you, it’s a good thing and that’s exactly what happened Monday for the White Sox.

While appearing on the “Mully & Haugh” show on 104.3 The Score, Callis says he was “blown away” by the White Sox draft haul.

“I always joke, the teams that always look the best are the teams that have the most draft picks or biggest bonus pool,” Callis said. “I’ll go to the White Sox, they had a $20 million bonus pool. You got Roch Cholowsky who is one of the two best players in the draft, you got two of the best high school hitters in Landon Thome and Cole Prosek. . . To get Cholowsky, Thome and Prosek at the top of the draft, I mean, I know they have other players and I’m not dismissing players in the big leagues or the system but I mean, you can have a scenario where that could be 3-4-5 for some team, or 1-2-3 for some team three or four years down the line. The White Sox draft just blew me away.”

“The White Sox draft just blew me away.”@jimcallisMLB reacted to what the White Sox accomplished this weekend. pic.twitter.com/WCAYBiNkrP

— 104.3 The Score (@thescorechicago) July 13, 2026

While there was some talk the White Sox could target another player at one, they stuck to their plan. Landing three players like the trio Callis mentioned could be something we look back on a few years from now in a very positive way.

Even with a promising shortstop, the White Sox are hoping Cholowsky will be right there in the middle of their lineup for years to come.

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