PLAYER REVIEW: DAYLEN LILE
Age on Opening Day 2026: 23
How acquired: Second round pick, 2021 Draft
MLB service time: 119 days
2025 salary: $760,000
Contract status: Under club control, arbitration-eligible in 2029, free agent in 2032
2025 stats: 91 G, 351 PA, 321 AB, 51 R, 96 H, 15 2B, 11 3B, 9 HR, 41 RBI, 8 SB, 6 CS, 21 BB, 56 SO, .299 AVG, .347 OBP, .498 SLG, .845 OPS, 137 OPS+, -14 DRS, -8 OAA, 0.7 bWAR, 1.4 fWAR
Quotable: “Special, because I did not think I was going to be able to do this. Coming up here at first and then going back down, my confidence wasn’t the same. And then coming back up here and just saying that I’m going to enjoy every moment and not put pressure on myself, it’s worked out pretty good. My confidence has been growing each and every day.” – Daylen Lile
2025 analysis: Evaluators both inside and outside the organization had sung Lile’s praises for several years, believing he was every bit as good a prospect as the Nationals’ other, often more highly touted, young outfielders. But with only 73 games of Double-A experience entering the season, he didn’t figure to be on anyone’s immediate radar. Then Lile slashed .319/.340/.505 in 21 games at Harrisburg to begin the year, earning his first promotion to Triple-A Rochester, where he slashed .337/.407/.500 in 26 games. And when the Nationals lost both Dylan Crews and Jacob Young to injuries in late May, Lile got the call to make his major league debut.
He didn’t exactly look ready for the assignment from the outset. Over his first 11 games, Lile slashed .194/.257/.355. So when Young was ready to return, the Nats sent him back to Rochester. He didn’t stay there long. With fellow rookie Robert Hassell III also struggling, the club brought Lile back to D.C. only 10 days after his demotion and gave him a second look. He didn’t squander that opportunity.
Lile showed steady progress at the plate each month the rest of the way. He slashed .260/.300/.411 in July, then .304/.353/.418 in August, then broke out with a staggering .391/.440/.772 line in September to earn not only National League Rookie of the Month honors but NL Player of the Month honors as well.
By season’s end, Lile had delivered one of the best offensive performances by a rookie in Nats history. His 11 triples matched Denard Span’s single season club record, even though he played in 42 fewer games. And he finished the year with the highest batting average, slugging percentage and OPS of any NL rookie who received at least 300 plate appearances in the majors, making his case for NL Rookie of the Year consideration.
2026 outlook: There’s no question Lile is going to be a big part of the Nationals’ Opening Day plans next season. The only questions are how much he can sustain the production he showed down the stretch as a rookie, and where he fits into the team’s defensive alignment.
Regarding that second point, Lile’s defensive metrics were not pretty. He especially struggled with balls hit down the lines and into the corners, clearly uncomfortable retrieving them in tight spaces. He’s going to have to work on that part of his game to become at least a competent corner outfielder, because while the Nationals did DH him 15 times, that’s not an ideal permanent home for a 23-year-old.
Regarding the first point, it’s tough to imagine Lile is capable of hitting at the MVP-caliber clip he did in September. But the peripherals do suggest he can continue to be a productive hitter the way he was when you consider his season in its entirety for one very important reason: He hits line drives way more than almost anyone else.
Though his average exit velocity (88.9 mph) was actually in the bottom half of the league, Lile’s line drive percentage (32.3 percent) was No. 1 among all major leaguers with at least 300 plate appearances. And he found the so-called “sweet spot” for launch angle off the bat (between 8 and 32 degrees) a whopping 44.2 percent of the time, second only to Mike Trout. Combine those factors with a low strikeout rate of only 16 percent, and Lile not only consistently makes contact, he consistently makes good contact.
Pitchers surely will make adjustments, and it will be up to Lile to adjust accordingly. But he already proved he could post a batting average of at least .280 off all three generic types of pitches (fastball, breaking ball, offspeed), so he mostly just needs to keep doing what he did this season if he wants to continue being a really productive offensive player for the Nationals for years to come.