Charles Davalan 5’9 190 OF
Charles Davalan was the Dodgers’ 2nd pick and was the pick they acquired in the Gavin Lux trade. Davalan is a 5’9 190 190-pound outfielder who is a native of Canada, but went to the TNXL Academy in Florida for his Senior year in High School. He went to Florida Gulf Coast out of High School, and the same as Zach Root, he transferred to Arkansas for his draft-eligible Sophomore season. He slashed .346/.433/.561 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI, and was all SEC, and a 2nd team All-American for multiple outlets.
Davalan is known for having a great “hit tool” with gap-to-gap power, good contact skills, and is a very disciplined hitter. In fact, he had 8 more walks this past season than he did strike outs, and he’s known for being good against velo as well, so the bat speed is good, and he can get to every pitch.
Arkansas has state-of-the-art facilities, so he spent lots of time studying trackman data on opposing pitchers so he would know how their ball moves. So, he’ll come “plug and play” in terms of knowing how to game plan and prepare.
Davalan has played several positions, both infield and outfield, so he brings the versatility that the Dodgers like in their young players.
Cam Leiter 6’5 RHP
Leiter was the Dodgers’ 3rd pick overall, and was taken as the 65th pick overall. Leiter is recovering from a shoulder injury that sidelined him at the end of March, and that was the last time he pitched at Florida State.
He is the nephew of Al and Mark Leiter, and his dad I remember very well was a part of the early 80s Oklahoma State teams that were in the College World Series every year.
Leiter is 6’5 with a very projectable fastball with high spin, and we know how the Dodgers love the long guys with great extension, big spin rates, and high velo. His fastball has touched the upper 90s in the past, so this guy fits the mold.
He also features a tight spinning curveball with lots of tumble, and from his frame, it looks like it’s dropping from space. He also has a slider that will likely climb into the low 90s, and will be a pitch he can add or subtract to give it different velo bands and shapes.
He can also tumble and fade changeups, which stands to be a big pitch for him to lefties.
Landyn Vidourek
is one I have personal experience with, because he and his Bearcats team, and their Bischel ball beat OSU 2 of 3 games in Cincinnati this year. Vidourek is a 6’1 192-pound outfielder who can really impact the ball. He turned heads at the combine with his exit velos approaching 115 MPH, and how far he hit balls.
He’s a guy who does have the propensity to strike out, as he had 65 Ks in 191 at-bats last year at Cincy, but will also walk a lot. He had 44 walks and then also stole 39 bases in 40 attempts, and hit 14 home runs. So, his Ks were offset by the fact he got on base a lot, .434 OBP, then stole a ton of bases. In essence, he had 49 doubles if you add his stolen base count to his 10 doubles on the season, plus 14 home runs.
All combined led to 110 total bases in 191 at-bats.
The tools are there to be very explosive and very dynamic.
Aidan West 6’2-SS
Davion Hickson – 6’1 RHP
Hickson had a very good year at Rice and was scheduled to transfer to Mississippi State, which just hired Brian O’Connor, who built a powerhouse at UVA. The Bulldogs are a “blue blood” in College baseball and have SEC money, so it will be interesting to see what happens on this front as he still has 1 year left of collegiate eligibility.
Hickson went to the IMG academy in High School, and originally went to Florida State, then transferred to Rice for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. As an Owl, he led the squad in saves as a Junior and worked as a starter this past season, which was his first full year as a starting pitcher.
If he doesn’t sign, he will be in the thick for one of the rotation spots at Mississippi State.
Hickson features a 4-seam fastball that’s in the 93-95 range, and rides the top of the zone very well, so that suggests he can put really good spin on the ball. He also features a slider and a changeup. Slider is his main secondary, and he shows his changeup as a front-to-back pitch, to get back to his fastball.
He had 90 strikeouts in 73 innings, but he also had 35 walks, so control and command will likely be a focus as he enters the system.
Mason Ligenza 6’6 Outfielder
Ligenza was the 5th pick of the Dodgers and 165th overall out of Tamaqua Area High School in Pennsylvania. He goes up a ways, that’s for sure, and he is what is called a “treasure trove” of tools. He also pitched in High School, and posted an ERA of just 0.25 in 55.1 innings and had 100 strikeouts.
He has good speed and long strides, and can cover a lot of ground in the outfield. That part of his game is going to be ++ basically from day one. Another part of his game that will be the most “plug and play” is his ability to impact the ball, because he can hit the ball very hard.
The goal, however, will be to create professional bat-to-ball skills against top-caliber pitching.
But as he gets stronger and gains more and more experience against high-level pitching, his ability to turn the barrel to the ball accurately will improve. He already has plenty of strength to control the barrel, so it’s just a matter of optimizing his path, creating the most direct turn to the ball, picking up spin, and making good swing decisions.
All of that comes with at bat after at bat at the Minor League level, and so prospects like Ligenza, who are “treasure troves” of tools, are so fun to watch, because they can explode at any moment.
Mason Estrada – 6’0 200 RHP
Estrada has the kind of story I like to tell. He’s originally from Covington, La., and went to MIT to be an Aerospace Engineer. MIT is DIII, which can make it a little harder to gather attention, but when he started firing 98 MPH fastballs, Scouts started taking notice.
98 MPH is 98 MPH whether it’s thrown at MIT or Tennessee, where he has committed to transfer to if he doesn’t go pro. He was selected as the Dodgers’ 7th pick in the draft and 225th overall. Tennessee WILL have the funds to match his slot value, plus quite a bit more if they so choose, so that situation will be interesting to follow.
Not only does Estrada approach 100 MPH, he also has a 3/4 arm slot, which should yield “Ride and Run” like we see with Emmet Sheehan. His extension is reported to be 6.5 Feet, which is better than the MLB average, so his velo will play up even more than the 98.
Although Estrada can touch the high 90s, he’ll sit anywhere from 93-96, and will average around 94. While his “ride and run” fastball is very impressive, his slider is maybe his best pitch. It’s a pitch that is in the 2600-2800 range in terms of RPMs and has a big sweeping action. It’s a pitch that has the potential for a lot of “swing and miss”.
The Dodgers love big fastballs, especially when they have unique properties, and high RPM sliders. But, like most of these types of pitchers, control and command will likely be the focus.
Estrada has been known to change the shape of his slider to make it bigger or smaller, so it will be interesting to see if the Dodgers add a “cutter” to his arsenal as he joins the organization.
Jack O’Connor – 6’5″ RHP
O’Connor has been playing big-time baseball for a while now. He was a member of the 2021 USA Baseball 18U National Team, he was recognized by the Washington Post as being All-Met, and he was the Washington Post Catholic Athletic Association Player of the Year in 2022.
He then went to UVA, where he became a Freshman All-American according to Perfect Game, and a 2nd team All-American according to Baseball America.
But that’s when he started having to battle injuries.
O’Connor was only able to pitch 10 innings this past Spring for the Hoos and underwent successful UCL internal brace repair in May.
He features a fastball and slider, and has a very tight arm motion to release, and a release that makes his slider a very natural-looking pitch. It’s hard to tell what the velocity will look like post-surgery, but if he gets back to pre-surgery form, then bumps as most pros do, he could easily sit in the 95ish range.
His 2-Seam fastball also has some good run to it, so with his arm action, combined with velo potential, he could end up with a very good “ride and run” type fastball that is very hard for righties to hit, and equally as tough for lefties to barrel.
The Dodgers define and redefine roles for their pitchers, but, just looking at face value, I would assume he will be in relief, and the leverage aspect will be determined by how he develops.
Connor O’Neal 6’3″ – Catcher
If O’Neal is anywhere as special as the last player the Dodgers took out of SELA, count me in. Of course, that player I’m referring to is Drew Avans, who, no, he never made it to the Major Leagues with the Dodgers, but he is my own personal Dodgers Daily Hall of Fame for just about every reason imaginable.
O’Neal is a left-handed hitter who can really impact the baseball that the Dodgers took with their 9th pick. O’Neal was the 285th overall pick taken in the draft.
He hit .286 last year for the Lions with 14 home runs, 53 RBIs, and an on-base percentage of .459. Largely because he walked 52 times. Does home runs, a disciplined plate approach, lots of walks, and an SLG of .571 sound familiar? That is the blueprint for the slugging type in the Dodgers system, so his profile should fit well.
Despite having a very good slug, O’Neal works a pretty flat path to the ball and shows an advanced ability to turn the barrel to create great bat angles at impact. He’s very strong, but also has a smooth swing, so hitting velocity should not be a problem for him.
Jacob Frost – 6’3 230
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