How Daylen Lile’s unique pre-pitch setup has sparked his defensive turnaround

When you watch the Nationals when they are in the field, take a glance toward left field.

Daylen Lile’s pre-pitch setup is unorthodox. As the pitcher begins his delivery, Lile’s chest is square with the center fielder. It might look wonky, but it works for Lile because it allows him to unlock his athleticism.

Lile and the coaching staff noticed he had tight hips — he’s better ranging to his right than his left — so the setup helps him get to more balls in the gap. It’s a small change that he and first base coach Corey Ray made to make Lile more comfortable and improve his defense after a rookie year that saw him grade negatively in many metrics.

“I think it was more confidence than anything, being able to tell myself that I can do it out there, and now, seeing it really pay off, it’s awesome,” he said. “The bat is slowly, steadily coming around, so hopefully we can just get that going too and show the five-tool player I am.”

That confidence is rooted in preparation that began in spring training. Lile entered this season with improving his defense high on his list of goals.

He finished 2025 with a minus-10 in Statcast’s Fielding Run Value, the sixth-worst mark in the majors among corner outfielders. This season, Lile has improved to a plus-3, seventh best among corner outfielders. Because left field is not a premium defensive position, Lile’s poor metrics put even more pressure on his bat.

His defensive improvements allow him to add more value even when he’s not raking. He’s almost eclipsed his FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement total from last season (1.4) in 22 fewer games (1.3).

Lile’s defensive improvements began once the new coaching staff was finalized.

​Spring training features early team workouts. But, for Lile, his individual work had to start even earlier to get one-on-one instruction with Ray. So, each day at around 7 a.m., Lile and Ray would go to the field.

Those training sessions were geared toward improving Lile’s prepitch and first step. They also fortified the bond between him and Ray, who has been instrumental in helping Lile optimize his athleticism. Ray felt he had to earn Lile’s trust.

​“He hated me for it, but he saw the vision,” Ray said recently. “He knew that, if he worked, he would get better.”

​The two convened each morning, and Lile would field balls off the FungoMan machine, which is essentially pitching machine on wheels. He’d also catch high fly balls. He was using a smaller glove than the one he uses in games to increase the difficulty so that, during the regular season, he wouldn’t even be thinking on the field, just reacting.

​Once manager Blake Butera and the new training staff were hired, Lile immediately let it be known he wanted to be a better defender.

​“He was most frustrated with how bad his defense was last year,” Butera said. “I told him, ‘There’s no reason somebody as athletic as you are is not at least an average defender,’ and he’s completely agreed and put in the work to get to where he is now.”

​At first, Lile said, the individual drills were tough. Ray was coaxing him out of his comfort zone because he felt Lile had to thrive in that discomfort to become the defensive player he wanted to be.

If his training sessions were demanding, he would be accustomed to that feeling during the game.

​“I told him, ‘It’s gonna get ugly before it gets better,’” Ray said. “My plan was to get him to make a few mistakes and, through those mistakes, allow him to get better.”

​Lile had to learn to feel at ease in the outfield. One change was to his prepitch setup.

​“I would say more, just like the reaction time,” Lile said. “ We [would] do hand routines every day, making sure we’re staying loose, relaxed, and then whenever we do fly balls, it’s making it challenging for [the outfielders].”

​After trying numerous setups during his rookie year, he has found one he is comfortable with. There’s also the fact that Lile is playing in major league stadiums that he’s already played in. That familiarity allows him to trust his reads. It’s a bit different patrolling the outfield in San Francisco vs. Worcester.

​“I would say mainly trust in yourself, your ability and what you’re capable of, because this is a game of failure,” Lile said of what last year taught him. “It can knock you down a lot. Baseball is more of a mental thing than anything.”

​Lile has improved not only his reaction speed but his ability to take the correct route to the ball. Baseball Savant’s outfield “Jump” metric comprises three categories: reaction, burst and route. Lile is a positive in that metric this season after being a negative in 2025.

That leap is a testament to the conviction with which he is playing in the field.

​And he isn’t content with his growth. He said before Sunday’s game he wants to improve his arm strength — 45th percentile, according to Baseball Savant — and throw more runners out.

Lile came close Sunday in the third inning with a runner on first. After running to complete a catch, he immediately fired a strike toward first baseman Luis García Jr. to try to throw out Mariners rookie Colt Emerson for a 7-3 double play. García couldn’t corral the ball, but it was an impressive throw.

“The athleticism stands out first, then the confidence he has to show it off and air that ball out from from left field and almost have a double play there. That would have been really cool,” Butera said after Sunday’s 10-1 win. “Ultimately we didn’t have the double play, but just really happy with Daylen taking a shot there.​"

Now it’s about being consistent in making the unremarkable plays. It’s about maintaining that improvement and reaching new levels.

Can he dominate BP? Can he continue to improve his jumps? Those questions will persist until Lile has established a track record of consistency. Dominating BP is counting the number of balls Lile gets to and studying how the ball is hit off the bat.

“I tell him all the time, ‘Hey, you’re better, but you’re still not good yet,” Ray said. “We’re trying to get him to understand that it’s a process. You being better than you were is part of the process, but just because he’s better than you were last year doesn’t mean we pack it in; you still got work to do. The expectation is that you continue to get better as the year progresses.”