Los Angeles Dodgers select Arkansas OF Charles Davalan in 2025 MLB Draft

The Los Angeles Dodgers have selected Arkansas outfielder Charles Davalan with the No. 41 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. Davalan transferred to Arkansas last offseason after spending his freshman year at Florida Gulf Coast.

In his lone campaign at Arkansas, Davalan made 65 appearances. He posted a .346/.433/.561 slash line, along with 60 RBI. While Davalan wasn’t always a home run threat, he was more than capable of hitting a ball out of the park, and finished the year with 14 homers.

In the field, Davalan was essentially perfect. He recorded 101 putouts and zero errors. Unfortunately, Davalan’s Arkansas career ended on a devastating note after he failed to catch a line drive in the ninth inning of Arkansas’ season-ending 5-3 loss against LSU in the College World Series.

Davalan was in tears as his teammates consoled him after the game. Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn didn’t criticize Davalan, but instead vehemently defended him.

 “We wouldn’t have got here without Charles Davalan,” Van Horn said. “We wouldn’t have gotten close. Guy got so much clutch hits, started so many rallies. You can probably take 10 wins off our SEC. He was unbelievable.”

For his efforts this past season, Davalan was an All-SEC First-Team selection. In his freshman season at Florida Gulf Coast, Davalan started in all 56 of the Chanticleers’ games.

Davalan slashed .288/.413/.514 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI. Additionally, he scored a team-leading 66 runs on the year and was 13-for-18 on stolen base attempts.

Davalan played high school baseball at TNXL Academy (FL), but he’s originally from Quebec, Canada. In fact, Davalan was the No. 6 overall player and No. 2 outfielder from Quebec in the 2023 recruiting cycle, according to Perfect Game.

Scouts didn’t stop liking Davalan’s game in the college ranks. Ahead of the draft, MLB.com wrote a rave analysis of Charles Davalan’s game, including predictions for his future at the next level.

“A leadoff hitter with a sweet left-handed stroke, Davalan has a quality approach and rarely chases or swings-and-misses,” the analysis read. “He focuses on hitting the ball from gap to gap and has surprising strength for someone who stands at just 5-foot-9.

“He’s driving the ball better after dropping a leg kick in favor of a toe tap, showing power to both his pull side and the opposite field, and he should produce 15-20 homers per season… His quickness gives him range to go with fringy-to-average arm strength, and he’ll be able to enhance his value as a pro if he can play up the middle at second or in center.”