For everyone who follows college baseball and the MLB Draft, we were pretty excited for this postseason. It rarely happens, but with the overwhelming MLB talent that both UCLA and Georgia Tech possessed, many were hopeful we could see those two schools cross paths in Omaha. Instead, chaos continues to reign in the NCAA postseason. For the second year in a row, both top seeds were knocked out in Regionals on their home fields.
Frankly, it’s inexcusable that UCLA and Georgia Tech were knocked out. It’s also a downer because we miss out on watching Roch Cholowsky and Vahn Lackey play on a big stage. As Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz told our James Fegan and other White Sox reporters on Monday, the postseason isn’t a deciding factor, but it’s one that can be informative.
“It is more data, and it’s usually against better competition,” said Getz. “You’re mindful of how much weight you put into maybe a short window or smaller sample size of performance. But it is a stage.”
Without Cholowsky or Lackey, it’s still going to be a fun Super Regional. I’m a big fan of the No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Oregon matchup. Not only are there some interesting 2026 MLB draft targets, but there are also 2027-eligible players we’ll be tracking next year. If you are a fan of intense SEC baseball, No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 14 Mississippi State will feed that need. For those who love chaos and a Cinderella story, Little Rock vs. Troy is for you.
NCBWA Dick Howser 2026 Finalists
The National College Baseball Writers Association announced the 2026 Dick Howser Award finalists. This award is given to the best college baseball player of the year, and I’m a voter. The winner will be announced a day before the College World Series begins on June 11, 2026. I’ll release my ballot in full after the award announcement. If you are not familiar with the process, each voter submits eight players to be considered for the award and ranks them in order. First place receives eight votes, and so on.
This year’s finalists:
| Player | Pos. | School | Slash line | HR | RBI | wRC+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landon Hairston | OF | Arizona State | .400/.507/.860 | 28 | 81 | 195 |
| Tague Davis | 1B | Louisville | .355/.443/.848 | 34 | 98 | 176 |
| Daniel Jackson | C | Georgia | .399/.498/.840 | 30 | 85 | 192 |
| Roch Cholowsky | SS | UCLA | .320/.450/.636 | 21 | 61 | 146 |
| Pitcher | School | W/L | ERA | IP | K | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Flora | UC Santa Barbara | 12-0 | 1.06 | 102 | 133 | 32 |
By far the biggest snub will be Vahn Lackey. He finished with a 186 wRC+ with 20 homers and 78 RBIs. I’m a bit shocked that Roch Cholowsky got the nod over Lackey as a finalist.
Landon Hairston and Tague Davis are 2027 MLB Draft eligible, so you’ll read more about them next season as they try to stake an early claim as one of the top prospects. Daniel Jackson had a monster season for the Georgia Bulldogs, pulling off the rare 25/25 season (29 HR / 25 SB) as a catcher. Even though there’s been a history of swing and miss in his career, Jackson is now considered a first-round talent and could be taken within the first 20 picks.
Jackson Flora dominated the competition he faced this season. UC Santa Barbara tried to hold Flora back in hopes of having him start a potential game against Texas in Regionals, but Tarleton State had other thoughts, as they won the opening game.
Roch Report: Final 2026 Season Numbers
I have roughly 5,000 words in my head that I’d love to put on paper that illustrate how I feel about Roch Cholowsky as the favorite to be selected first overall. But I’ll boil down all those thoughts to one simple sentence:
Roch Cholowsky was better in 2025.
| Season | GP | AVG | OBP | SLG | 2B | HR | RBI | wRC+ | K% | BB% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 66 | .353 | .480 | .710 | 19 | 23 | 74 | 163 | 9.30 | 13.90 |
| 2026 | 60 | .320 | .450 | .636 | 10 | 21 | 60 | 146 | 12.10 | 11.70 |
After going 2-for-12 in three regional games, including two losses to Saint Mary’s, Cholowsky in his final nine games (versus Washington, Big Ten Tournament, and Regionals) finished 7-for-33, all singles and no RBIs. In his NCAA Postseason career (Regionals, Super Regionals, and College World Series) spanning 11 games, Cholowsky went 11-for-47 at the plate (.234 AVG) with no extra-base hits.
Cholowsky started the 2026 season on fire, racking up six home runs and four doubles in his first 10 games. Against Friday starters, which are key games for scouting as hitters often face the opposing school's best pitchers, Cholowsky was 12-for-33 (.363 AVG) from Feb. 13 to April 3 with three home runs, two doubles, and 12 RBIs. It appeared nobody could stop Cholowsky.
But something changed on April 10 at Rutgers. Cholowsky went 0-for-4 in a marathon game in which he reached base three times, thanks to a walk and being hit by a pitch twice. That game started an awful streak in which Cholowsky finished 2-for-27 on Fridays with one RBI. If you are a scout who invited your crosscheckers and directors to watch Cholowsky on a Friday night in late April and May, I’m not sure what they took away from those games.
Sure, there could be an argument that Cholowsky had a tough task in clearing an already high bar from his sophomore campaign. But if you look at the overall season numbers of the other Dick Howser finalists, they had no issue despite facing tougher conference competition. Overall, I would say that Cholowsky was good in 2026, but not great.
Next week will be Sox Machine’s updated Top 150 draft rankings.
