If you’ve been paying close attention, you might notice Georgia catcher Fernando Gonzalez going about his business differently than before.

No more looking over his right shoulder to Wes Johnson, as radio communication between the bench (Johnson), the catcher, and the pitcher is widely used throughout college baseball.

But that’s not the story here.

Other than Gonzalez relaying what pitches to throw, his voice is typically the only one heard as the Bulldog senior is now essentially calling games himself, much as they do in the major leagues.

“We’ve been doing it since the Alabama series. It’s been awesome,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve been learning a lot. It’s been great.”

While there will be occasions that Johnson chimes in with a pitch selection, most of the conversation Georgia’s skipper has with Gonzalez is when they review their pregame scouting report.

“We use the radio, and I give him certain sequences that we like or we see, but yeah, he takes it from there,” Johnson said. “When you get those older veteran catchers, who know the league, who know hitters, and can give you good and honest feedback on what the pitchers’ stuff is doing, then you can go. For your catcher to call a game, he’s got to understand how good and bad a pitcher’s stuff is, and Fernando is really good at that.”

Bulldog pitcher Chandler Marsh can vouch for that.

Marsh said Gonzalez’s knowledge of hitters, particularly those in the SEC where he’s now in his fourth year as a starter, is uncanny.

“He studies hitters to a different level. He reads swings. The first pitch of an at-bat may set up the whole rest of the at-bat. He sees a guy throw a certain pitch in an area, he sees the hitter in a different perspective than you see from the dugout or even on the mound,” Marsh said. “He studies when we read scouting reports; he’s always locked in. He understands guys’ zones, guys’ holes that we can target and fill up. He’s been doing a great job.”

Gonzalez said the trust and responsibility Johnson puts in him to call games for the Bulldog staff is an honor he does not take lightly.

Much has been said and written about Johnson’s trust and belief in his players. Per Gonzalez, knowing your head coach feels that way about him only makes him more determined to succeed.

“He trusts his players a lot. I know sometimes he thinks it’s a weakness, but we take it as a guy who puts us in the lineup, and he believes in his players,” Gonzalez said. “That just gives us confidence to go out and compete, for him and for the team.”

Still, Gonzalez smiled that he was still taken aback when Johnson said the responsibility would fall to him.

“I was, yeah. I was surprised,” Gonzalez said. “This is a guy who’s been in the big leagues; he’s got a lot of knowledge. But he also gives that to you and prepares you for every game.”

Although it’s seldom that you see college catchers call their own games, it does happen.

According to Gonzalez, Alabama’s Mac Guscette is also allowed to call his own game.

“It’s a tough task. You play so many teams, you also have school, and we’ve got a lot of other stuff, so the scouting report gets hard to do at times,” Gonzalez said. “But having a guy like Wes who knows the league and how to pitch around guys has been awesome.”

It doesn’t hurt that Gonzalez knows Georgia’s staff as well as he does.

Along with knowing the strengths and weaknesses of opposing hitters, Gonzalez makes it his business to know the strengths and weaknesses of his pitchers and uses that knowledge to call games.

“I try to learn on my own, but you also sit down and listen to Wes about what he’s got to see about every single hitter, then you go off what he’s telling you and what you’ve seen. Also, you go off our pitchers’ strengths,” Gonzalez said. “For somebody like Kolten (Smith) and (Brian) Zeldin who gets a lot of swings and misses on cutters and sliders, that’s what you’re going to do. It’s easier to go to with some guys than others, but it’s been amazing.”

Johnson said Gonzalez doesn’t need a lot of coaching. At least not anymore.

“When we started, I’d give him a little, I’d give him a little more. Now, I’ll come out and say ‘So-and-so is coming to the plate, it’s sliders away, fastballs in, changeups down; go to work,’” Johnson said. “I still call a lot of the picks, a pick, whatever. This week he’ll be ready to go.

"I’ll still have the earpiece in, but you’ll see him punching buttons on the kneepad like they do in the big leagues, so we’re getting there.”