We began this review series of minor league standouts for the Dodgers by highlighting the Ontario Tower Buzzers’ most impactful player in 2026, one Easton Shelton here. From one MVP to another, we have Charles Davalan next on the list, elected the Most Valuable Player in the Midwest League for the 2026 season—the first Dodger to win this award since Andy Pages did it back in 2021.
While perhaps not the highest-rated outfield prospect in the Dodgers farm system, Davalan finished the year inside MLB’s
top 100 prospects, landing at 79th overall after a marvelous campaign—sixth among Dodgers prospects.
The Dodgers’ second of back-to-back selections in the Competitive Balance Round portion of the 2025 MLB Draft—picked just outside the top 40 with a competitive balance pick they acquired alongside Mike Sirota in the Gavin Lux trade—Davalan’s first full season in the minors was a glaring success. Advanced enough to be thrown straight into High-A ball after a dominant showing in a mere handful of games in Low-A to wrap up the 2025 campaign, going 17 for 34. Davalan established himself as a staple of the Loons offense.
To claim Davalan hit the ground running in High-A might be an understatement, considering in his third game, the former Arkansas Razorback secured his first multihomer performance as a pro, setting up an opening month in which he batted over .300. The biggest challenge, though, came in the following two months, with a .755 OPS between May and June, but from that moment forward, Davalan became the top hitter in the league—including a .790 OPS in July with 16 extra-base hits in just 20 games, which helped fuel his MVP candidacy.
With the way Davalan wrapped up the season, the Dodgers felt confident enough to promote him to Double-A for the playoffs. While the Drillers were swept in two by the Cardinals, Davalan did his part, securing a hit in both games, including a key home run, his 25th this season.
Having a refined hit tool as one of his calling cards, Davalan had no problems handling left-handed pitchers in his first year as a pro, finishing the year with a .337 batting average across 86 at-bats against same-handed pitchers.
Still on the impressiveness of Davalan’s hit tool, the 22-year-old not only had more walks (63) than strikeouts (57), but he also nearly matched his impressive college feat of more extra-base hits than punchouts, falling one short of it with 56 XBH. He was one of three players to score 100 runs or more in the Midwest League, joined by teammate Eduardo Quintero, and his 128 hits and 29 doubles both led the league.
Heading into the Arizona Fall League, Davalan, alongside Quintero, was probably the most exciting Dodger to feature in the competition. And although his production at the plate has been disappointing (.683 OPS), one key aspect of his development has piqued the interest of those following him closely. After moving between left and center in 2026, Davalan has worked as a second baseman in the AFL, reverting to his early days as a baseball player.
If Davalan can continue to take steps forward at second, the flexibility he would bring to the table will be invaluable to this organization—especially so given all the outfield depth it currently has, both in the minors and majors.
2026 particulars
Age: 22
High-A Stats: .292/.402/.535, 24 HR, 72 RBI, 29 2B, 103 R, 115 G
Game of the year
That two-homer game in his third appearance of the season was one of four multi-homer games for Davalan with the Loons. Although it didn’t represent anywhere near his season-high mark in RBI, the one multi-homer game we’ll highlight here came in mid-August—Davalan added a double and a walk to help propel the Loons to an 8-6 victory at home against the South Bend Cubs.
