Henry Ramón Blanco (born August 29, 1971) is a Venezuelan professional baseball coach and former player. He is currently the catching and strategy coach for the Washington Nationals. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2013, appearing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, and Seattle Mariners. He later served as quality assurance coach for the Cubs. Although a light-hitting player, he was regarded as one of the best defensive catchers in Major League Baseball. Professional career Blanco began his professional baseball career in 1989 when, he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent. He didn't begin to play as a catcher until . After 7 years in the minor leagues, he finally blossomed in when he hit for a .313 batting average in 91 games for the Albuquerque Dukes of the Pacific Coast League. At the age of 25, Blanco made his major league debut with the Dodgers on July 25, 1997. He returned to play for Albuquerque in and was granted free agency in October of that year. In December 1998, Blanco signed a contract to play for the Colorado Rockies and won the starting catcher's role for the 1999 season. Hitting for a .232 batting average, he embellished his defensive credentials by leading National League catchers with 39 baserunners caught stealing. In December 1999, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of a three-team trade. Blanco caught the majority of the Brewers' games in 2000, posting a .236 batting average with 7 home runs, 31 runs batted in. He led National League catchers with a 58.2% baserunners caught stealing percentage, the highest percentage since when Bob Boone also had a 58.2% success rate. His batting average fell to .210 in the 2001 season and, in March 2002, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Paul Bako and José Cabrera. While Blanco served as a reserve catcher with the Braves working behind Javy Lopez, he also became known as Greg Maddux' personal catcher, a role he inherited from fellow Venezuelan catcher, Eddie Pérez. Although he only produced 22 runs batted in, he had 5 game-winning RBIs and provided solid defense, helping the Braves win the National League Eastern Division title. Blanco was the starting catcher for