I have good news and bad news for LSU as we head into the 2026 college baseball season.
The bad news is they are losing just about the entire starting infield from a national championship team that—oh by the way—was statistically the best defense in LSU’s storied history. The good news is the one returner is your shortstop and he might be the best one in the country.
Steven Milam is back for his third and likely final year with the LSU Baseball program. No matter what happens in 2026, nor where his professional
baseball career takes him, Milam is going to leave LSU as two things any Tiger player could ever hope for: a fan favorite and a national champion, which is something the other star LSU shortstop from New Mexico can’t say…
The people love Monster Milam. Whether it’s playing far bigger than his size, or the loud, flashy hairstyles he sported in 2024 he’s going to be a guy that people round these parts remember forever. The only thing flashier than Milam’s hair is his glove, as he’s one of the better defensive shortstops in the country.
The bat may not be generational, but it’s more than good enough for the college game. Sure he slumped a tad, but when the calendar flipped to May and June, Milam’s bat returned in a big way. Milam was an All-CWS Tournament team selection after hitting .350 (7-20) in Omaha. Over the duration of LSU’s NCAA Tournament run, he led the Tigers in RBI (13) and hit .385 in those 11 games.
UCLA’s Roch Cholowsky and Alabama’s Justin LeBron will battle to be the 1.1 pick in this summer’s draft, but I’d happily take Milam over literally any other shortstop in the nation.
I had mentioned in our Second Base preview that true freshman Jack Ruckert would likely slide into the starting shortstop position for the 2027 season. That is unless fellow true freshman Ethan Clauss has something to say about it.
Like Ruckert, Clauss was a highly thought of prospect coming out of Nevada. Perfect Game had him as the No. 37 high school shortstop, and the No. 105 high school prospect overall. Coming into this season, Clauss is viewed as the No. 65 overall college freshman.
There’s not a whole lot separating Ruckert and Clauss physically. There’s about an inch difference in their height and Ruckert has about five pounds on Clauss. Both are also left-handed bats. I would imagine both Clauss and Ruckert get some mop up duty in the early portion of the schedule and both push for starting jobs in ‘27. Maybe this tandem is the future middle of LSU’s infield, maybe they’re the future left side of the infield. Either way, the future lies with these two.
