Nationals Breakout Star Daylen Lile Finishes High in NL ROY Voting Results
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Daylen Lile was the most electric player for the Washington Nationals in the second half of the year.
With the star trio of James Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore cooling off after the All-Star break, the emergence of Lile was the biggest storyline coming down the stretch of what was another lost season for the Nationals.
What made this even more notable was the fact that he was on virtually nobody's radar entering the year. Following Wood's emergence in 2024 and the hype surrounding Dylan Crews, they were the headliners in the outfield. Even struggling prospect Robert Hassell III and Jacob Young got more attention than Lile.
But Lile let his play do the talking, and that earned him a fifth-place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year voting results, as was voted on by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Daylen Lile Becomes First Nationals Player Since Juan Soto to Get Award Votes
It would have been interesting to see where Lile would have finished if he had played more games at the major league level than he did. Called up for the first time on May 23 and then for good on June 16, he finished with 95 fewer plate appearances than NL Rookie of the Year winner Drake Baldwin and with 155 fewer plate appearances than third-place finisher Caleb Durbin.
Ultimately, the lack of games compared to his peers -- along with poor defensive numbers that cratered his WAR value -- was the reason he didn't win this award despite the fact he finished first among NL rookies in batting average (.299), slugging percentage (.498) and triples (11), while he was second in wRC+ (132) and tied for third in on-base percentage (.347).
Still, the fact Lile even got votes for an award that is determined by the BBWAA is notable. Because, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASN, the last time a Nationals player earned votes was when Juan Soto finished runner-up to Bryce Harper for the NL MVP in 2021. Lile also became the first Washington player to receive Rookie of the Year votes since Victor Robles in 2019.
Is Daylen Lile's Performance Sustainable?
What everyone will be wondering heading into next year is if what Lile did can be repeated. He was sensational during September with a .391/.440/.772 slash line, six home runs, seven triples and 19 RBIs to take home both the NL Rookie of the Month and NL Player of the Month awards.
But now that everyone has an offseason to prepare for the breakout 22-year-old, it's a fair question to ask regarding his offensive sustainability. For the Nationals' sake, they have to hope he continues to develop. Because what he showed to finish out the season was something they can build around.
Lile will be a hot topic of conversation throughout the spring, especially now that he officially finished fifth in the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year voting results.
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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