Guardians notes: Manager Stephen Vogt distances himself from baseball during the All-Star break

CLEVELAND — Guardians manager Stephen Vogt used the All-Star break to get as far away from baseball as possible, spending time with his family in Orlando, Fla., where he even got in a round or two of golf. "It's vital," Vogt said of his time away. "Obviously, it's the first time since last November that baseball wasn't the No. 1 thing on my mind outside of maybe Christmas Day. To get 72 hours where I didn't look at my phone, didn't do anything … I left the Apple watch off. It was just existing. It was awesome, much, much needed." The rookie manager did find time to watch Jose Ramirez compete in the Home Run Derby on Monday and when the Guardians third baseman joined teammates Josh Naylor, Steven Kwan, David Fry and Emmanuel Clase in the All-Star Game on Tuesday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. "That was awesome, that was so fun to watch him," Vogt said of Ramirez, who advanced to the semifinal round before he was eliminated by Royals finalist Bobby Witt Jr. "It looked like he wasn't even having fun. He's like, 'I'm wining this.' He was great. It was just really fun to see our guys out there supporting each other." Vogt told reporters he would not meet with his team prior to the series opener against the Padres on Friday night. Cleveland opened the second half of the season leading the second-place Twins by 4½ games in the Central Division standings. "I don't like addressing the team. I don't think it's necessary," Vogt said. "Our coaches are the ones that deliver the messaging and that's, 'Let's go play our game, let's keep doing the things we've been doing.'" Doctor's office RHP Triston McKenzie made his second start since being demoted to Triple-A Columbus, allowing four runs on six hits over four innings at Indianapolis on July 12. He struck out five and walked one. LHP Logan Allen made his first start for the Clippers since his demotion, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings in Indianapolis the following day. He struck out seven and walked two. "Triston's last outing, I think his velocity was up again and he was more in the strike zone, so trending in the right direction, and same with Logan," Vogt said. "Logan was trending in the right direction." Lost art? The Guardians faced Matt Waldron in the series opener against the Padres. The right-hander is the only pitcher in the majors who employs a knuckleball. "I don't think it's a pitch that's going away," Vogt said. "I think there's always an avenue for that. I think there's a place for it. We just put so much emphasis on velocity and stuff that it's kind of gone on the backburner a little bit." Roundin' third Kwan (.352) joined Earl Averill (.373 in 1938) as the only players in franchise history to lead the majors in batting average at the All-Star break. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.