Rookie outfielder Daylen Lile seemed to come out of nowhere to lead the Nationals to a 13-13 record in the final month of an otherwise dispiriting 2025 season. His performance was outstanding enough to join the likes of Buster Posey, Mike Trout and Aaron Judge, each of whom earned Player of the Month honors as rookies. Of course, Lile also was named Rookie Player of the Month.
When Lile, a left-hand hitter, made his debut on May 23, the team’s focus was on fellow rookies Dylan Crews and Robert Hassell III, both of whom bat right-handed. Top prospects, they were seen as competing with incumbents James Wood, Jacob Young and Alex Call. But Crews suffered an abdominal strain and Young also was out with a minor injury. That led to Lile’s promotion from AAA.
The injury to Crews kept him out for two months. Then Call was traded at the deadline. Hassell made his debut a day before Lile, but was seen as a centerfielder, platooning with defensive whiz Young.
Subbing for Crews in right most of the time, Lile got off to a slow start. He also had to compete then with Hassell and Call, right-hand hitters in a Washington lineup that featured left-hand batters Wood, CJ Abrams and Young as well as DH Josh Bell, a switch-hitter up most often from the left side.
So when Young returned from his injury, Lile was demoted to AAA for 10 days. But Hassell, too, was struggling at the plate and also was briefly optioned, so Lile was recalled. As late as June 25, Lile was hitting .225. From then on it was a slow, steady climb. Still, as September began, he was at .262, with an on-base average of .309 and slugging just .398.
Two hits on Aug. 31 proved to be the start of a 16-game hitting streak. Then, it was off to the races. In 25 September games, he hit .391 with seven triples and six homers, driving in 19 runs and scoring 20. He had a .440 on-base percentage, a .772 slugging average, and an eye-catching 1.212 OPS.
Lile’s dramatic, 11th inning, inside-the-park homer in New York on Sept. 20 helped carry Washington to a 5-3 win that accelerated the Mets’ slide from playoff contention. After game 161, Lile had his average up to .302, his OBP at .350 and his slugging percentage at .503. Unfortunately, Lile was 0-for-3 as the Nats were nearly no-hit in their final game. He ended up at .299/.347/.498 in 91 games and 351 plate appearances, still enough to put him in rookie-of-the-year discussions.
Lile was drafted by the Nats in the second round in 2021. He won’t be a free agent until 2032. Nationals fans likely recall a frightening moment for Lile during a March 2, 2024, spring training game. He suffered what appeared to be a serious injury when he fell over a low right-field fence, trying to make a catch, and into the Red Sox bullpen. He had to be carted off the field in a stretcher. He recovered quickly, however, and appeared in 130 games at Wilmington and Harrisburg that season. Back at AA Harrisburg to start 2025, he hit .319 in April before his promotion to AAA Rochester. Less than a month later, he was in the majors.
Lile is certain to compete for a starting job next spring, when he’ll be 23, either in right or as the primary designated hitter, depending on Washington head honcho Paul Toboni’s moves in the off-season.
In the Jan./Feb. 2006 issue of Baseball Digest, Lile was named an outfielder on the magazine’s annual rookie all-star team. It’s likely Topps will follow suit with its issue of 2006 cards. If so, he’ll join the six expansion Senators and nine Nationals who have made those Topps rookie teams. (Several of them admittedly had little competition at thier positions.)
Lile’s defensive metrics aren’t good, despite his speed, so he is not a candidate to move slugger Wood from left field. Yet unlike Wood’s near-record 221 strikeouts, Lile fanned in just 16 percent of his plate appearances. His bat-to-ball skills produced line drives in nearly a third of his times up, tops among all players in both leagues with at least 300 plate appearances. Despite that, a recent article in The Athletic didn’t even mention Lile among Nationals’ prospects. Both Crews and Hassell can play center, which puts the light-hitting Young’s job in jeopardy. Having that kind of competition with young players, however, is a good problem for a team coming off a 96-loss, last place, season.
Washington baseball history 