Daylen Lile Is Showing Why He Can Be Someone Nationals Build Around
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Don't look now, but the Washington Nationals are red-hot.
They have won six out of their last seven games, and on Sunday, they have an opportunity to sweep two out of their last three series if they can secure a road victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
How the Nationals have played as of late is much closer to the version they were when they were hanging around the playoff picture. While they had long odds to actually make the postseason, their incredible offense made up for their shortcomings in the pitching staff.
That has been the case once again during this stretch, and a lot of that is due to the incredible form outfielder Daylen Lile finds himself in. With him putting together strong finishes in back-to-back years, the former underrated prospect could be someone this organization chooses to build around.
Daylen Lile Continues to Emerge as Franchise Cornerstone
For much of the season, Lile's performance wasn't anything to write home about.
The fifth-place finisher in the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year race took a step back compared to what he did last season, which really stood out since the majority of his teammates were putting together career-best years. However, Lile continued to go about his business. And now, just like last season, he has been shining for Washington.
In August, Lile heated up at the plate with a .292/.350/.547 slash line, seven home runs and 26 RBIs. While he's cooled off a bit in September with a slash line of .173/.228/.385, his eight RBIs across 15 games have turned him into one of the most productive outfielders this season.
In fact, Lile is now third amongst all National League outfielders in RBIs this year (88). He trails only NL MVP front-runner Pete Crow-Armstrong (105) and breakout star Jordan Walker (100). Lile has 12 more runs batted in than his teammate James Wood, who is in the midst of his own incredible season. While their places in the batting order certainly affect that, it still shows how productive Lile has been despite the struggles he had throughout the majority of the year.
With that in mind, one can only wonder what the ceiling might look like for the 23-year-old once he finds more consistency. And because of that, it's hard not to envision this front office trying to build around Lile, especially after they just committed to ace Cade Cavalli with a noteworthy contract extension.
Much like Cavalli, Lile goes about things the right way. He's a hard worker who plays hard, and that's something president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, manager Blake Butera and the other decision makers across the organization value.
So, as the 2026 season comes to a close and Lile puts the finishing touches on a down year that could still see him finish as one of the most productive outfielders in the sport, don't be surprised if extension talks start circulating around the rising star this winter.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai