He has been called the best shortstop in college baseball in at least two decades. He is the centerpiece of a loaded UCLA roster that has all the makings of a team capable of winning the national championship. And he has long been projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 Major League Baseball draft.
Roch Cholowsky embraces all of it.
“I enjoy expectations. I enjoy trying to go after something,” Cholowsky said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The main goal obviously is what we’re doing with the guys here at school.”
Cholowsky, named college baseball’s national player of the year for 2025 by multiple outlets, begins his third season with the Bruins on Friday, when they open at home against the University of California San Diego. The 6-foot-6, 202-pound junior be the most-watched player in the country the next four months as he tries to lead the Bruins back to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
UCLA coach John Savage, understanding the pressure Cholowsky will be under, set up a lunch for his star player with Phil Nevin earlier this month. Nevin was picked No. 1 in the 1992 MLB draft by the Houston Astros the same week he was playing in the CWS for Cal State Fullerton.
Nevin played 12 years in the majors, coached and managed in the minors and majors, and now works for the Chicago White Sox as a special assistant for player development. The White Sox, it so happens, are set to pick No. 1 at the MLB draft in July.
The conversation between Cholowsky and Nevin during their hourlong lunch mostly was about their similarities at the same stage in their careers and the ways Nevin approached the day-to-day rigors of his draft year.
“We didn’t talk too much about the White Sox or what they’re thinking about,” Cholowsky said.
If Cholowsky wants more insight on pro ball, he can always talk to his dad. Dan Cholowsky was the No. 39 pick in the 1991 MLB draft, selected by the St. Louis Cardinals after playing second base and third base at California. He spent eight years in the minors before going into scouting.
Cholowsky, who said he and his dad talk baseball every day, arrived at UCLA from Chandler, Arizona, as part of a heralded recruiting class for the Bruins. He started every game as a freshman in 2024, batting a team-best .308 as the Bruins struggled to a 19-33 record. The players could have splintered and high-tailed it to the NCAA transfer portal, but Cholowsky said he and his teammates believed in Savage’s plan and the hard times strengthened their resolve.
“The conversations we had were more about what we could change to turn it around,” Cholowsky said, “rather than looking at other options and finding the easy way out.”
The Bruins went 48-18 overall last season, including 22-8 in their first year in the Big Ten after being part of the mass exodus from the Pac-12 amid major conference realignment. In the NCAA tournament, they swept through regionals and super regionals to secure the program’s sixth CWS appearance but first since winning the program’s lone national title in 2013. They went 1-2 in Omaha, where they beat upstart Murray State, were sent to the elimination bracket by eventual champ LSU, then ousted by Arkansas.
Amid the team success, Cholowsky broke out individually, winning the Brooks Wallace Award as the nation’s top shortstop while being named the Big Ten’s player of the year and defensive player of the year. He led the Bruins in batting (.353), home runs (23), total bases (179), slugging percentage (.710), on-base percentage (.480), hits (89) and runs scored (80). According to his draft thumbnail on MLB.com, some scouts consider him the top all-around college shortstop since Troy Tulowitzki, the No. 7 pick in 2005.
“We’ve had some really good shortstops here, and Roch clearly is elite — not only for his play but for his loyalty,” Savage said. “He’ll do anything to win. He’s very unselfish, not really caring who gets the credit. Obviously there’s a lot of hype around him and a lot of stories and so forth. He understands team, and he understands the progression of what a good team has to go through.”
UCLA begins the season ranked No. 1 by Baseball America and D1Baseball.com, and Savage credits Cholowsky for keeping the group of juniors together to make one more run at a title before many of them head to pro ball.
“He’s an exceptional clubhouse guy,” said Savage, who is beginning his 22nd season at the helm in Pasadena. “His makeup, his leadership, his body of work in terms of his work ethic in the weight room, drills, practice, meetings… It’s all about winning with him. Whenever you have your best player as one of the best workers that’s giving the right message day in and day out it makes life much easier.”