Guardians notes: Manny Ramirez, Dale Mitchell latest selections for Cleveland's Hall of Fame

CLEVELAND — A pair of outfielders from Cleveland's glory days will be the next inductees into the team's Hall of Fame. Manny Ramirez and Dale Mitchell will be inducted this summer, the Guardians announced Monday. They will be part of Cleveland's 18th Hall of Fame class and first since 2016. Ramirez needs no introduction, playing with Cleveland from 1993-2000 and ranking among the franchise's top 10 all time in slugging percentage (first, .592), home runs (third, 236) and RBIs (eighth, 804). His 165 RBIs in 1999 is a single-season franchise record and at the time was the most in the majors since Joe DiMaggio's 167 in 1937. During his tenure in Cleveland, Ramirez was a member of two American League and five Central Division championship teams. He's one of the best right-handed hitters and most colorful figures to play the game. "He's one of the best pure hitters I've ever seen, ever," said Terry Francona, who managed Ramirez to two World Series titles in Boston from 2004-08. "And there was such a lovable side of him. I will say when you're in charge of a team, there were times where he could be challenging, but he also had a real lovable side of him and he could really hit. "There were times when he'd leave the batter's box and I'd say all bets were off, but he could really hit." Ramirez's 29 postseason homers with Cleveland, Boston and the Dodgers are the most in big league history. Mitchell, a two-time All-Star, was a member of Cleveland's last World Series-winning team in 1948 and spent nearly his entire career in the organization. He led the AL in hits and triples in 1949, recording the second-most triples (23) in a season by a Cleveland player. The two-time All-Star's .312 career batting average ranks 14th in club history. Change of plans The Guardians had planned on starting RHP Xzavion Curry in the series finale against the Rockies on Wednesday but used him out of the bullpen Monday. It would've been the first start of the season for Curry, who made his major league debut with the Guardians last year — two starts — and had made four previous relief appearances this year, posting a 3.75 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 12 innings. Though he has been used strictly as a reliever, the organization envisions Curry pitching in the rotation. "Young pitchers, the longer they can start, the better it is because they learn to use all their pitches and they turn lineups over and that's going to help their development," Francona said. Ring my Bell Josh Bell has begun to pick up steam after a seriously slow start, entering Monday batting .366 (14-for-41) in his last 11 games with eight of his 11 RBIs. "It's just being connected," said Bell, who took a seven-game hitting streak into Monday. "I was working tirelessly to stay inside the ball and try to get balls in the air. Things felt good in the cage there for a little bit, but it's nice to see things finally start going during the game." Bell, a switch hitter, entered Monday batting .318 (7-for-22) right-handed but only .193 (11-for-57) from the left side. "It's always a work in progress," he said. "It's awesome to have hits from both sides of the plate. I haven't hit a homer from both sides of the plate in the same game, but hopefully that's coming soon." Struggle city Reliever James Karinchak has been ineffective early, posting an 0-3 record and 6.75 ERA over his major league-leading 12 appearances. He's allowed 10 hits and five walks over 12 innings. "It just seems like when he makes a mistake, he pays for it," Francona said of Karinchak, who allowed his fourth home run Sunday. "Sometimes you need (the batter) to foul the ball back. His stuff's fine." Perfect pedigree Francona was a member of a Cleveland roster in 1988 that included six future managers: Francona, Colorado's Bud Black, Buddy Bell, John Farrell, Dave Clark and Ron Washington. He was asked if he saw anything leading him to believe they all would fill the same job. "We weren't even sure we were going to be players, let alone (managers)," he joked. "I would never speak for anybody else. I just know that at that point we were all trying to kind of hang on and be the best kind of player we could, which in some cases wasn't very good." Black spent four seasons as a pitcher for Cleveland (1988-90, '95) and one as Triple-A Buffalo pitching coach. "I have never heard somebody say something bad about him ever," Francona said. "And that's probably because he's one of the nicest people in the game. He's one of the true gentlemen in the game." Roundin' third The Guardians entered Monday leading the majors with 28 stolen bases. It's the first time Cleveland had recorded 28 or more steals over the first 22 games since 1996. The Guardians entered Monday with an AL-leading nine sacrifice flies. Since the start of 2021, Cleveland had amassed the most infield hits (335) in the majors through Sunday. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on Twitter.