2026 MLB Draft: Seven candidates to go No. 1 as White Sox hold first pick, including a dark horse infielder

Baseball's annual two-day amateur draft will begin Saturday, July 11. The 30 MLB teams will hope to select their next All-Star and franchise player that weekend, plus solid contributors and even role players. Turning a late-round pick into a platoon player or a depth reliever qualifies as a big win on draft day. Every round matters, but the first round gets the most attention.

The Chicago White Sox went 60-102 last year and won the No. 1 pick in this year's draft through the lottery. It is the third time the ChiSox have held the No. 1 pick; they selected Danny Goodwin with the No. 1 pick in 1971 (but did not sign him) and Hall of Famer Harold Baines first in 1977. Chicago hopes this year's No. 1 pick is another Baines, not another Goodwin.

With that in mind, let's run down the top candidates to hear their name called by the White Sox with the No. 1 pick this year. There's always a chance Chicago goes off the board and makes a surprise selection, but it is likely it will select one of these players.

2026 MLB Mock Draft: Rays take star college catcher at No. 2 as three shortstops go in top four

Mike Axisa

The favorites

It's not fair to call this a two-player draft class, but there are two players who stand out from the pack and are the leading candidates to be this year's No. 1 selection.

Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA 

Cholowsky is the draft's No. 1 prospect and the best college shortstop in several years -- possibly since Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman went with the top two picks in 2015. He hit .329/.448/.624 with 52 home runs and more walks (105) than strikeouts (100) in three years at UCLA, and has all the ingredients needed to be a franchise cornerstone up the middle. Cholowsky has power, especially to the pull side as a right-handed hitter, and he gets that power often thanks to his contact skills and swing decisions.

On the other side of the ball, Cholowsky is an instinctual defender with a strong arm who figures to remain at shortstop long-term. His leadership skills and competitiveness have long stood out as well. Nothing is ever set in stone in the MLB draft, but Cholowsky stands out as the class' best prospect and is the favorite to be this year's No. 1 selection.

Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian HS (TX)

Emerson offers the best of both worlds. He's a very high upside player but also polished, much more than the typical high school player. He's a left-handed hitter who squares the ball up with ease and registers comfortably above-average exit velocities. In the field, Emerson makes shortstop look easy thanks to his smarts, athleticism, and internal clock. There is some thought that his defense is underrated because he's not flashy and instead makes the difficult look routine. Emerson's baseball IQ is off the charts. The tools suggest he's a future 30-homer shortstop who contends for Gold Gloves, and the polish indicates it won't take Emerson long to reach the big leagues. There are some Bobby Witt Jr. vibes here, though Emerson lacks Witt's top-of-the-line speed.

Other candidates to be the No. 1 pick

While Cholowsky and Emerson are the top candidates to be the No. 1 pick, they are not the only players who could go to the White Sox. Here are four others who have a chance to come off the board first, listed alphabetically.

Eric Booth Jr., OF, Oak Grove HS (MS)

Booth has an unorthodox swing that doesn't look right, but he has a track record of barreling up elite pitching in showcase events. It just works. Booth is one of the fastest players in the draft class and he has the power potential to suggest 30-30 seasons are in his future. His bat is ahead of his defense and baserunning, which are merely unrefined, not bad. There are some things Booth must work on and prioritize in his development, for sure, but he's a high-ceiling player with electricity to his game.

Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara

If the White Sox opt for a pitcher with the No. 1 pick, it will almost certainly be Flora, who has separated himself from the rest in this year's draft class. He checks both the eye test and the analytical test. He's big and athletic (6-feet-5 and 205 pounds) and routinely touches 100 mph with his fastball. Flora throws two sliders -- a hard upper-80s "gyro" slider that snaps down and an upper-70s sweeper. He also has a changeup that gets confused for a splitter, given its movement.

Flora can spin the baseball and his fastball lights up analytical models thanks to its carry at the top of the zone. This spring, he threw 102 innings for the Gauchos and finished with a 1.06 ERA and 133 strikeouts. No. 1 pick or otherwise, Flora will be the first pitcher selected in this year's draft.

Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech

Lackey is widely considered the third-best prospect in the draft class behind Cholowsky and Emerson. He's a do-it-all player who projects to hit in the middle of the lineup and shows uncommon athleticism for a catcher. When he gets into a pitch, Lackey has the right-handed power to hit the ball a very long way, and he's an extremely patient hitter who is comfortable hitting with two strikes. This spring, he authored a .397/.519/.772 batting line with 20 homers and more walks (50) than strikeouts (38).

Defensively, Lackey is a sound receiver and a good blocker who commands his pitching staff well. He's speedy, too, much more than the usual catcher (15 for 16 stealing bases this year). The biggest knock on Lackey is that he can get passive at the plate and let hittable pitches go by, which is something that can improve with experience.

Jacob Lombard, SS, Gulliver Prep (FL)

A regular at summer showcase events, Lombard has strong baseball bloodlines. His father, George Sr., played six years in the big leagues and is a longtime coach who won a World Series as first base coach with the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers. He is currently A.J. Hinch's bench coach with the Detroit Tigers. Lombard's brother, George Jr., is a top prospect with the New York Yankees. Jacob is more highly regarded than George Jr. was when the Yankees selected him with the No. 26 pick in 2023. He's a tremendous athlete with burgeoning power and terrific shortstop defense. Squint your eyes and Lombard's combination of size (6-3 and 195 pounds), power, and defense will remind you of Carlos Correa.

The long shot

It is an open secret that Chris Getz's front office covets Nazareth Academy (IL) infielder Landon Thome, the son of Hall of Famer Jim Thome, who played for the White Sox (2006-09) and currently serves as a special advisor in the organization. Landon is a left-handed hitter like his father, though he stands out more for his bat-to-ball ability and contact approach than his power. He's a reliable defender on the left side of the infield. As expected from the son of a Hall of Famer, Thome's baseball IQ and feel for the game are outstanding.

Thome is considered more of a second-round talent than a first rounder and the White Sox very well might be able to select him with their second selection (No. 41). There's a chance -- a very, very small chance, but still a chance -- the White Sox want Thome so much that they take him with the No. 1 pick, sign him to a below slot bonus, and use the savings to take bigger swings with later picks. It's the portfolio approach: cut a deal with the No. 1 pick and land several other top talents later. 

Slot for the No. 1 pick is $11,350,600. The White Sox could pay Thome, say, $5 million and use the remaining $6,350,600 to sign multiple first-round-caliber prospects who slide into the later rounds (it happens every year). Thome would presumably be open to this because $5 million is more than double what he would get as a second-rounder, plus he gets to say he is the No. 1 pick. That's a nice little feather in his cap. The chance that this happens is very small, but it's definitely not zero.