Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Charles Davalan is getting a new look in the Arizona Fall League, and he won’t be the only one making a positional switch.
According to Baseball America, Davalan will move from the outfield to second base for the Glendale Desert Dogs. It’s a notable shift for a player who had spent all of his field time since his minor league debut in left field and center field, with more than 100 games split between those two spots through Tuesday.
The move fits the Dodgers’ roster picture. The organization has plenty of outfield talent coming, while second base has been less settled.
Five different players have started there through the season’s first 152 games, but that group has come with some built-in uncertainty. Santiago Espinal is no longer in the organization, Miguel Rojas is 37 and headed for free agency after this year, and Tommy Edman is a utility player the front office would prefer not to box into one defensive role.
Alex Freeland and Hyeseong Kim have handled the position well, but both bring more value with the glove than the bat. Davalan, by contrast, showed real thump in 2026. The 41st overall pick in last year’s draft hit .292/.402/.535 with 24 home runs in his first taste of Midwest League pitching with advanced Class-A Great Lakes.
The Dodgers bumped Davalan up to Double-A Tulsa on Sunday, and he responded with a home run in Tulsa’s first playoff game on Tuesday.
Of course, minor league positions are rarely fixed in stone. Plenty of prospects start out in one spot and end up somewhere else by the time they reach the majors.
Even so, second base is thin in the Dodgers’ prospect pipeline. Only three second basemen appear in MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 for the organization, and all three - No.
13 Kellon Lindsey, No. 19 Logan Wagner and No.
23 Nico Perez - are listed with another position besides second base.
If Davalan takes to the move and stays there, the Dodgers could end up with one of the better-hitting middle infield prospects in baseball. Pipeline currently ranks him No. 86 overall nationally, and his 60-grade hit tool is his best carrying card.
There’s also a broader payoff for Los Angeles. Davalan could eventually push Kim and Freeland for playing time in a year or two, depending on how he develops and how the front office handles second base in the offseason.
The comparison that jumps out is Mookie Betts. The Dodgers’ shortstop started his climb in the Boston Red Sox system as a second baseman before moving to the outfield because Dustin Pedroia already had the job in the majors. Davalan’s path runs in the opposite direction, though Betts’ career arc is a reminder that another switch back would still be on the table if the Dodgers’ outfield picture changes down the line.
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