Phillies Notes: McClure hired as Phillies pitching coach

It required 53 days and at least a dozen interviews, but the Phillies found a replacement for longtime pitching coach Rich Dubee. They hired Bob McClure, who last served as Boston's pitching coach in 2012, on Thursday.

McClure, 61, was out of baseball last season. He takes this job knowing he was far from being the Phillies' top choice.

"We set out to put ourselves in a position to give Ryne Sandberg as much support as possible," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said, "and we think Bob McClure with his experience and demeanor and the way he handled himself when we spoke to him, we felt he was a great fit."

Rod Nichols, who was interviewed for the pitching coach job, will remain bullpen coach. Jesus Tiamo will serve as bullpen catcher for the sixth season, the team announced.

McClure played 19 seasons as a lefthanded reliever for seven teams. He served as pitching coach for Kansas City (2006-11) and Boston (2012).

His brief time as Red Sox pitching coach was tumultuous. McClure was hired by Boston as a special assistant before Bobby Valentine was named manager. He was later installed as Valentine's pitching coach. Valentine was said to be against the idea.

The boorish Valentine publicly criticized McClure, who was fired in late August. McClure was then accused of leaking information to reporters about internal strife between the Boston clubhouse and front office, although that was never proven.

Boston's 4.70 ERA under McClure ranked 12th in the American League. A season later, the Red Sox pitched to a 3.79 mark en route to a championship. While with Kansas City, McClure oversaw the maturation of Zack Greinke from failed prospect to Cy Young Award winner.

Extra bases. The Phillies re-signed infielder Andres Blanco to a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training. Blanco, 29, missed all of 2013 because of injury and played for triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2012.