Guardians notes: Closer Emmanuel Clase to skip All-Star Game for personal reasons

CLEVELAND — The Guardians announced Friday that closer Emmanuel Clase would not pitch in the All-Star Game at Seattle's T-Mobile Park on Tuesday night. According to manager Terry Francona, Clase will return to his home in the Dominican Republic to be with his significant other, who is experiencing a "challenging" pregnancy. "He needs to get back with her, which we fully respect and support," Francona said. Clase was chosen as an All-Star for the second straight season, entering Friday owning a 3.54 ERA and 24 saves in a major league-leading 42 appearances. The right-hander played a big part in the American League's 3-2 win last year at Dodger Stadium, striking out the side in the ninth inning to earn the save. It's been a struggle as of late for Clase, whose save total ranked second in the AL through Thursday, but his seven blown saves led the majors. He entered Friday having allowed runs in three straight appearances — seven runs on six hits over 2 1/3 innings. Clase's absence in Seattle will leave Cleveland with one All-Star representative, third baseman Jose Ramirez. Bo will know Catcher Bo Naylor is off to a rough start at the plate since joining the Guardians from Triple-A Columbus. He entered Friday batting .149 (7-for-47) with a home run and three RBIs, striking out 18 times in 14 games. Naylor snapped an 0-for-19 skid Thursday with an RBI double in the sixth inning of a 6-1 win over the Royals. "It's kind of interesting with young guys," Francona said. "You'll look up a month, two months, next year, and you'll see a guy and you'll be like, 'Wow, that's the same guy?' Because he's not going to hit what he's hitting now. "With catchers, they got a lot on their plate. He's not only charged with trying to find ways to get hits, he's got to run the staff, call the game. There's a lot going on." Naylor, who was not in the lineup Friday, was working one-on-one with hitting coach Chris Valaika prior to the game. "We're trying not to give him too much, but he's a good, thoughtful kid," Francona said. "You don't want to just pigeonhole somebody and say, 'Well in his first 50 at-bats — he can't play,' because I don't think we feel like that. I think he's got some adjustments to make, but we think he can." Catching fire? Second baseman Andres Gimenez has slowly recovered from a slow start, batting .299 with 23 RBIs in his last 30 games since May 30. Gimenez entered Friday 8-for-21 in six July games, adding seven runs, six stolen bases and four RBIs over the span. "I think that's the representation of all the work that we've been putting in the cages," Gimenez said through an interpreter. "I feel like all the credit goes to the coaches for keeping me accountable, keeping me on those routines day to day. That obviously has allowed me to have success." Minor details Oscar Gonzalez is making a push to return to Cleveland, entering Friday batting .301 with nine homers and 50 RBIs over 52 games since his demotion to Triple-A. Gonzalez has been especially hot as of late — 20-for-45 with four homers and 15 RBIs in his last 10 games through Thursday. Outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez hit his 14th homer for Double-A Akron on Thursday to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. The third-round draft pick in 2017 entered Friday with 42 RBIs in 75 games. Outfielder Chase DeLauter, Cleveland's first-round draft pick last year, entered Friday batting .300 (15-for-50) with two homers and seven RBIs over 15 games for Class A Lake County. He was riding a five-game hitting streak through Thursday. Roundin' third Ramirez and Josh Naylor had combined for 114 of the Guardians' 325 RBIs through Thursday, accounting for 35.1 percent of their team's run production. The rate is the highest of any MLB duo, ahead of the Mets' Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso (30.7 percent). The Ramirez and Naylor combination was also tied for the most go-ahead RBIs (19) in the majors through Thursday. ** Saturday, 4:10, BSGL; WEOL 930-AM and 100.3-FM, WTAM 1100-AM, WMMS 100.7-FM. Williams (0-1, 3.79) vs. Singer (5-7, 5.52). Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @CAwesomeheimer.