Prospect Profile: Daylen Lile
2021 2nd Round Pick Daylen Lile and Notes on his performance last night (4/23/2023)
Daylen Lile was drafted 47th overall in the 2021 MLB draft by the Nationals but has yet to see a lot of action after getting Tommy John surgery in March of 2022. 64 at-bats at the rookie league level in 2021 was all Lile had entering 2023 so it will be interesting to see how fast the Nationals move him through the Minor league system.
Lile has the chance to hit for a good average, decent power as well as steal some bases and with the Nationals revamped outfield in terms of prospects he’ll need to do just that to break in at the MLB level. With James Wood, Robert Hassell III, Elijah Green and potentially Cristhian Vaquero, Lile has some good competition on his hands.
In 2021, Lile reported to the FCL where he didn’t put up a great line of .219/.363/.250 with no home runs, two steals and a 15BB:20K ratio. In 80 plate appearances, only 2 extra-base hits (both doubles), is something with a larger sample size will most likely improve.
Missing 2022 due to Tommy John surgery, the extra-base hits in 2023 have already surpassed the number in 2021. Lile is currently playing for the stacked Low-A Fredericksburg Nationals, with teammates Elijah Green, Brady House, Armando Cruz, Roismar Quintana and Robert Hassell III. Through 36 plate appearances in 2023, Lile has a slash line of .333/.444/.600 with an OPS of 1.044, one home run, one triple, three doubles and three steals. That gives him 5 extra-base hits in less than half the at-bats accrued in his debut season. The improvements, as well as the expectations from being drafted in the second round are showing for Lile early on as he also has a 6BB:7K ratio.
Last night, Lile and his top prospect Fredericksburg Nationals took on Jackson Holliday, Samuel Basallo and the Delmarva Shorebirds. This game had a ton of talent on both sides and Lile went 2-5 with a home run and 3RBI. Here are how his five at-bats looked:
First At-Bat: Starting the day taking a looping curveball for a strike, Lile was down 0-1 and grounded a ball hard to second base where Jackson Holliday covered a lot of ground to make a sliding play and rob him of a hit. (0-1, 2 pitches seen).
Second At-Bat: Lile took ball one and fouled off the second pitch in his second at-bat of the day. On the third pitch of the at-bat, Lile grounded a ball down the third base line for an RBI double. (1-2, 5 pitches seen).
Third At-Bat: Starting the third at-bat exactly like his last at-bat, Lile looked at ball one, fouled off ball two and this time lined the third pitch of the at-bat where he was again robbed of a hit as the third baseman jumped and snagged it out of the air. (1-3, 8 pitches seen).
Fourth At-Bat: Lile looked at the first two pitches for an even 1-1 count, swung and missed at a slow mid 70MPH curve for strike two, then took the fourth pitch for a ball to even the count at 2-2. On the fifth pitch, Lile put a great swing on a high fastball that he hit over the right centerfield fence for a 2 run home run. (2-4 3RBI, 13 pitches seen).
Fifth At-Bat: In his final at-bat, Lile swung at the first pitch and hit a hard line drive foul. Down 0-1, Lile grounded a ball hard to first base, where Samuel Basallo made a great stop and turned a double play to end the game.
Lile had five really good at-bats in the game and could argue that he very easily could have went 5-5. Hopefully a full, healthy season is in the cards for Lile and he can prove why the Nationals went over slot to sign him in 2021.