Nationals' Rising Prospect Rewarded for a Historic Month of September
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The Washington Nationals have an influx of young talent on their roster. Some of those players are outfielders, and one of them is Daylen Lile.
The 22-year-old was called up in May before being returned to the Rochester Red Wings on June 6. He was recalled again 10 days later and played in 91 games for the Nationals, but it was a glimpse of things to come in the future for the outfielder.
It was another season where Washington was playing out the string in September, but Lile put up some big numbers and was rewarded for it.
Nationals Rookie Daylen Lile Picks Up Two September Honors
Lile was named National League Player and Rookie of the Month for September. He picked up both awards with some eye-opening numbers and feats. He had an OPS of 1.212 while slashing .391/.440/.772. He finished the season with nine home runs and eight stolen bases.
he is now one of our ELITE employees pic.twitter.com/akEwZqxAAd
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 30, 2025
For the season, Lile slashed .299/.347/.498, and he finished with an OPS of .845. He had 15 doubles and 11 triples, but it was what he did over the final month that allowed him to join elite company.
Lile, drafted in the second round of the 2021 draft out of high school by the Nationals, became the first player since Willie Mays in June of 1957 to have seven or more triples and six or more home runs in a calendar month. He scored 20 runs and drove in 19 during that span for Washington.
The Nationals front office has some decisions to make this offseason, beginning with the future of interim manager Miguel Cairo, but one thing is for sure: there is a lot of young talent that is hungry to win and looking to do so soon. Lile, Dylan Crews, James Wood, CJ Abrams, and MacKenzie Gore are a talented group of up-and-coming players.
“Yeah, no doubt,” Crews said. “Every single guy here has tools and has desire to win and to go out there and produce and just have that winning mentality. Obviously, we’re young. … We’ve got some things we need to work on. But I definitely look at these guys and think that we’re a winning-caliber team.”
The Nationals finished 30 games below .500 at 66-96 in last place in the National League East, but with a solid young core of players, they could turn things around beginning in 2026 with the right manager. Lile put up huge numbers in September and can use it as a springboard into 2026.
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Scott Roche has covered both college and professional sports for nearly three decades for various outlets. Scott has covered the MLB, NHL, and college sports and he is someone always looking for a good rumor, no matter which sport it is.