PALMER: Milam off to steady start, as usual

By Hunt Palmer

Traditional baseball stats begin with batting average and trickle to home runs and runs driven in.

Steven Milam doesn’t stand out in LSU’s crowded offense by those metrics.

When the dust settles, Jake Brown and Zach Yorke will hit more homers. Derek Curiel is going to hit for a higher average. Four or five guys will probably drive in more runs.

Milam’s contribution to LSU’s lineup comes in some different and very predictable ways. They just don’t show up on the YouTube highlight reel or National Player of Week graphic.

For instance, Milam struck out in his first at bat on Sunday. It was his first strikeout of the season. He’s been to the plate 40 times and punched out once. He’s almost always putting the ball in play. When he’s not, he’s drawing free passes. He’s walked six times and been hit a team-best four others. That’s 10 free bases which is tied for second on the squad behind Seth Dardar.

Despite his .333 batting average being the lowest among LSU regulars, Milam is getting on base at a .500 clip. It’s early. Everyone’s numbers are inflated as LSU bludgeon’s non-conference foes, but this is Milam’s M.O. He was second on last year’s team in walks, too.

That’s only half of the game.

On defense, he’s brilliant. Truly.

Through eight games he’s had 22 chances in the field and made them all. Friday, he slid in the six-hole to backhand a ground ball, popped to his feet and fired a seed to first for an out. Innings later, he came flying forward on a chopper and transferred from glove to hand with quickness of a magician before firing just in time to first.

Monster Makin’ Monster Plays 😤@Monster_Milam99 | D1Baseball pic.twitter.com/vDIK71i5FZ

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) February 20, 2026

Not only does he make the routine plays, but he also handles the high-difficulty chances. Steady shortstop play doesn’t generate buzz, but in the college game it’s such an advantage.

We saw in June that Milam is certainly capable of getting white hot and carrying an offense. He did it for nearly the entire NCAA Tournament. Perhaps that stretch was the outlier in multiple ways, because he made two of his five 2025 errors in one Super Regional game.

In Omaha, he was back to his slick fielding ways and ultimately turned the twin killing that clinched LSU’s eighth title.

Jay Johnson has plenty of shuffling to do in his lineup and with his pitching staff to try to identify the best team moving toward SEC. No such shuffling is necessary at shortstop. Milam is steady as they come.

That’s a monster piece to a team with eyes on Omaha.