One look at the stats from last year and it’s easy to see why Georgia pitching coach Sean Kenny and his pitching staff are getting back to some basics this spring.

It wasn’t pretty.

Last season, Georgia issued the most walks (288), while the team ERA (5.57) and hit batters (78) both ranked next-to-last in the SEC. For good measure, the number of wild pitches (78) and home runs allowed (80) were the third worst in conference play.

Injuries to the team’s top three starters—Jonathan Cannon, Liam Sullivan, and Nolan Crisp—only exasperated matters.

With Friday’s season-opener against Jacksonville State a matter of mere days away, pitching coach Sean Kenny has been busy finding ways to keep last year’s issues from happening again.

“We had no identity. So, we spent a lot of time this fall trying to simplify and get back to what we did five years ago, when it was let’s just slim down the things we were thinking about and just throw it over the plate,” Kenny said. “There’s more to go into it than from the way we train, prepare, and things like that, but I think that (simplifying) was the main message we’ve tried to focus on.”

Cutting down the number of walks is Job. 1.

It’s hard enough to consistently get accomplished SEC hitters out. Falling behind in the count and issuing an exorbitant number of walks make things worse.

Again, Kenny’s message is to keep it simple.

“Let’s make sure we used the big part of the plate early in the count, and when we get to two strikes, we can talk about going in, going out. For us, the way the game is now, most of our guys have to pitch tall, not wide,” Kenny said. “You’re either pitching up in the zone, not down in the zone, so much. The premium now is less now about in-out than it is up-down. Focus on the big white thing in front of you.

"That’s OK. If we’re going to give up some hits early in the count, who cares? If we’re going to walk them ultimately, what’s the big deal? They got on base. Let’s be aggressive to the big part of the plate early in the count. We’ll make the plate smaller once we get ahead, but that seems to help. We’re still walking too many guys, but it’s significantly cut down and I think it’s because we’ve asked them to do less things.”

Although this year’s team philosophy applies to all Georgia’s pitchers, Kenny mentioned junior lefty Luke Wagner and sophomore reliever Chandler Marsh already showing signs of improvement due to the change.

“I think you’ve seen some growth from Luke Wagner on that front. His stuff is up, his walks are down, his deep counts are down, things like that,” Kenny said. “Chandler Marsh is another guy who I think benefits from that mindset. He’s a big, strong guy with a good arm. He doesn’t have to locate as much; he can just let that thing eat.”

Stressing a simpler approach does not mean the Bulldogs are leaning away from analytics. On contrary. Analytics will continue playing an important role for Georgia pitchers.

Kenny just wants his pitchers to be more aggressive.

“Analytics are important. I love analytics. I think the numbers are here to stay, and they play a huge part in what we’re doing,” he said. “But, when you get out on the dirt and you’re facing somebody with a different jersey, it has to be get ahead, throw strikes, and just be better than that guy. So, we’ve really tried to make it that simple.”