Four Miracle earn postseason honor

Pitcher Anthony Swarzak, infielder Alexi Casilla, outfielder Brandon Roberts and manager Kevin Boles were honored by the FSL.

Naples Daily News
Staff Report

This season's Fort Myers Miracle team is one of the best during its 15-year history. On Monday, the Miracle were rewarded, with three players and their manager named to the Florida State League postseason All-Star team.

Pitcher Anthony Swarzak, infielder Alexi Casilla, outfielder Brandon Roberts and manager Kevin Boles were honored by the FSL.

The 20-year-old Swarzak was chosen as one of the starting pitchers to the postseason All-Star team. He has been one of the best pitchers in the FSL during the second half and has been the ace of the Miracle staff since the departure of Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey.

Swarzak is 10-6 with a 3.25 ERA in 25 games and has two complete games and one shutout. In 138Ð innings, he has walked 56 and struck out 127. Opponents are hitting .240 against him. He is first in the league in strikeouts, tied for first in shutouts, tied for second in complete games, third in ERA and tied for third in wins.

Swarzak was a second-round draft pick by the Twins in 2004 out of Nova High School in Davie.

The 22-year-old Casilla was chosen as a utility infielder and was the catalyst at the top of the order for the Miracle in the first half of the season.

Casilla hit .331 with 33 RBIs in 78 games for the Miracle before being promoted to Double-A New Britain on July 14. In 323 at-bats with Fort Myers, Casilla had 12 doubles, six triples and scored 56 runs with an on-base percentage of .390. He stole 31 bases in 37 attempts. He is still second in the FSL in batting.

With New Britain, he is hitting .304 with one home run and 13 RBIs in 41 games. In 158 at-bats, he has 10 doubles and one triple with an on-base percentage of .379. He has swiped 19 bases in 21 attempts. The Twins got Casilla in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels in 2005 in exchange for pitcher J.C. Romero.

The 21-year-old Roberts was chosen as a starting outfielder and has been impressive for the Miracle since coming over in a trade with the Reds organization for shortstop Juan Castro.

Since joining the Miracle, Roberts is hitting .316 with three home runs and 32 RBIs in 64 games. In 256 at-bats, Roberts has 12 doubles and 38 runs scored. He has swiped 27 bases in 33 attempts with an on-base percentage of .374.

Overall, Roberts is hitting .292 with four homers and 47 RBIs in 124 games. In 503 at-bats, he has 17 doubles, one triple and 78 runs scored. He has stolen 50 bases in 63 attempts with an on-base percentage of .350. Roberts leads the league in stolen bases, is third in the league in hits (147) and is third in runs scored.

The 31-year-old Boles is in his first season at the helm of the Miracle and was voted in as a coach for the postseason All-Star team. He has guided the Miracle to the best record in the FSL, 76-56 through Sunday, and is five wins shy of tying the Fort Myers Miracle franchise record of 81 wins.

Boles took his team to a near playoff berth in the first half, finishing tied for first with the Dunedin Blue Jays, but losing the head-to-head tiebreaker. He has his club 1 1/2 games up in the Western Division in the second half with eight games left.

Last season, Boles managed the Beloit Snappers, the Single-A affiliate of the Twins. He guided the Snappers to a playoff berth in 2005. During his five-year managerial career, entering this season, Boles is 236-228 (.509) and 137-139 (.496) with the Twins. He spent one season playing minor league baseball and was a 42nd-round pick of the Chicago Cubs in 1998.

His father John is the former manager of the Florida Marlins.

Each Florida State League team had three votes — one by the manager, one by the official scorer and one by a media representative. Each representative could vote for any player in either league, with the exception of someone from their own team.