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Nationals left fielder Daylen Lile was named a Gold Glove finalist Wednesday, validating the offseason improvements he made to sharpen his fielding.

The Chicago Cubs’ Ian Happ and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jackson Chourio are the other finalists. Happ has recorded four consecutive Gold Gloves, and Chourio led the NL in fielding run value (a metric that tries to capture a fielder’s overall value in runs saved or lost) and outs above average (which shows how many outs a fielder has saved). The Gold Glove winners will be announced Nov. 1.

Lile worked with first base coach Corey Ray to tweak his prepitch setup in the field, with the hope of maximizing his athleticism.

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As the pitcher begins his delivery, Lile starts with his chest square with the center fielder. The setup helps the 23-year-old get to more balls in the gap.

“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 told The Banner in June.

The shift allowed Lile to post much better defensive metrics in 2026. He had a positive outs above average (1) after finishing 2025 with a minus-8 mark. He improved his defensive runs saved mark to plus-8 after posting a minus-22 last season. That was the fifth-largest improvement in baseball.

Though he didn’t reach the prolonged highs of his electric rookie season, Lile flashed impressive play in his first full big league season. He posted a .725 OPS, with 89 RBIs and 22 homers.

Ryan Zimmerman (2009) and Adam LaRoche (2012) are the only Gold Glove winners in Nationals history.