MLB's longest active hitting streak belongs to … the Nats' Daylen Lile

Washington Post

10-07-2025

Sometimes, the 22-year-old finds a moment for video games.
He likes 'MLB: The Show,' fittingly. He grew up using retro teams and mashing the controller buttons as he swung as Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Now, 29 games into his big league career, he is playing as himself.
Washington Nationals right fielder Daylen Lile said being a playable character is a dream turned into reality. If anything, he'd just make a few changes to his rating.
'They knocked my power a little bit,' Lile said. 'But we'll get there.'
His character's attributes should improve soon, given what the real-life Lile has been doing at the plate.
After struggling in his first call up to Washington, Lile went back to the minor leagues and regained his composure. Nationals coaches say Lile has among the best plate discipline of the organization's young players, but it didn't show up in his first big league opportunity. Now in his second chance, Lile has found consistent contact, which has led to a 14-game hitting streak, the longest in the majors.
The Louisville native's route to a regular role in Washington included a Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss the 2022 season, his first full year as a professional, and a back injury from tumbling over an outfield wall during a spring training game in 2024.
Lile began this season in Class A Harrisburg and was called up in May to replace an injured Jacob Young. But he struggled to find a routine. The nerves changed the way he played, as pressure often affects first-time big leaguers. With a .194 batting average in 11 games, he was optioned to Class AAA Rochester.
Lile's father Danny Lile Jr. said his son was disappointed to be demoted but understood that to turn a corner he'd need to be more disciplined.
Lile said he liked to chase pitches as a kid, especially in high school. Sometimes, he would swing at pitches far off the plate when opponents just tried to avoid pitching to him entirely. He tried anything, standing on the inside chalk of the batter's box to outside pitches, just hoping to put the ball in play. And yet, he struck out just six times as a high school senior.
While his talent could outweigh impatience at that level, it wouldn't in MLB. So during his stint in Rochester, Lile focused on playing his own style again. In his first chance with Washington, Lile said he was worried about proving himself and that hurt his performance. Returning to Rochester would be a needed mental reset.
He was in Rochester for just under two weeks before Washington called him back up. This time it appears he's here to stay.
During his hitting streak, Lile is batting .327, and he has just two more strikeouts (six) than walks in that time (four). He has brought his batting average for the year up to .245.
'This time around, he's not trying to do a whole lot,' then-Nationals manager Davey Martinez said July 2, before he was fired this past weekend. 'He's working good at-bats, he's seeing the ball a lot better. He's also trying to stay in the middle of the field.'
As the hits started coming, Lile's high school coach, Rick Arnold, sent Lile's father a text. He said just one hit a game is all Lile needs. One hit a game means a few two-hit nights sprinkled in, too.
That's exactly what Lile is starting to produce. Lile has tallied just one hit in 11 of the 14 games during the streak. He has struck out just once in his last 11 games and his whiff rate (13 percent) would rank among the best in baseball if he played enough games to qualify.
Plate discipline means being prepared before he steps in the box. In the eighth inning of a July 2 game against Detroit, Lile knew relief pitcher Brenan Hanifee relied on his sinker (65.7 percent of his pitches) and slider (another 20 percent). So that's what he looked for. It wasn't what he got. Lile's awkward swing at a changeup — a pitch Hanifee uses just 4.8 percent of the time — nearly sent his helmet flying off as he 'adapted for a hit.'
Standing on first base, Lile couldn't help but laugh. Even with his inexperience, there have been only a few things that are surprising him in his second stint. Now he's prepared to handle them.