This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato's Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
As the Nationals tracked swing decisions during Spring Training, Daylen Lile was atop the leaderboard in his first Major League camp.
The Nats’ No. 9 prospect has carried that momentum into the season for Double-A Harrisburg.
Lile extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a third-inning home run against the Reading Fightin Phils on Tuesday night. He also doubled and scored in the seventh. During this streak, Lile is 23-for-62 (.371) with four doubles, two triples, two home runs, 13 RBIs, three walks, 16 runs scored and six stolen bases.
“It doesn't surprise me,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said pregame on Tuesday. “He's got a really nice swing. He hits the ball hard, stays in the middle of the field. He's a really good player. He loves to play the game, but he's very intense. He goes out there and plays the game the right way, and I love what he's doing. He's hitting the ball really, really well.”
Lile leads the entire Eastern League with 29 hits. Among all Nationals Minor Leaguers, he entered Tuesday ranked second in batting average, hits and runs and tied for second in extra-base hits and stolen bases.
“His athleticism is really good, he's got five tools, and his plate discipline is really, really good, too,” Dylan Crews said. “So that stands out to me the most. … His bat-to-ball skills are tremendous, too. Being able to hit anything at any moment, and if it's close, he's going to fight it off, and if anything, put it in play.”
Lile, 22, hit .240 with an .801 OPS in 17 Grapefruit League games during Spring Training this year. The outfielder began the season in Harrisburg, where he also played in the second half of last year.
Lile was the second-youngest position player in Nationals big league camp. A 2021 second-round Draft pick out of high school, he missed the entire 2022 season because of Tommy John surgery.
“It’s sick,” said Jacob Young, who was in Lile’s Draft class. “It’s not surprising, but it’s exciting. I think everyone saw this spring where he got much better at ... pitch selection, and he was a lot pickier in Spring Training. … I think he's obviously taken that to the season. And then his swing is very consistent to the point where he hits a lot of line drives.”