Henry Blanco to rejoin Chicago Cubs as quality assurance coach

Former fan favorite catcher Henry Blanco, who spent four seasons with the Chicago Cubs from 2005 to 2008, has returned to the organization as the quality assurance coach, according to multiple reports.

Blanco, 43, leaves the Arizona Diamondbacks coaching staff, where he served as the assistant hitting coach last season. However, according to Nick Diecoro of The Arizona Republic, he was to serve in a different capacity in 2015.

"Last month, the team announced he would return but in a different role on new manager Chip Hale‘s staff. He was being called a bullpen catcher, but in reality he would have been a de facto coach and would have worked with both pitchers and catchers."

Chicago lost its quality assurance coach from last season, Jose Castro, who left Chicago to take the same role with the Atlanta Braves organization earlier this offseason. For first-year Chicago manager Joe Maddon, Blanco’s addition could prove to be incredibly valuable given the high number of Spanish-speaking players on the team’s roster, including primary catcher Welington Castillo.

Also in the mix to potentially join Maddon’s coaching staff, which was, for the most part, set prior to Ricky Renteria’s firing, is his former bench coach with Tampa Bay, Dave Martinez, who actually played for the Cubs during his career. He spent three seasons with Chicago, from 1986 to 1988. Pitching coach Chris Bosio and hitting coach John Mallee are both also expected to return to the team in 2015.