Three Miracle players, Boles get FSL award

By Special to the Daily Breeze

The Fort Myers Miracle have enjoyed one of the best seasons of their 15-year history and were rewarded Monday with three players and manager Kevin Boles being named to the Florida State League postseason All-Star Team.

Pitcher Anthony Swarzak, infielder Alexi Casilla and outfielder Brandon Roberts were honored in addition to Boles.

Swarzak, 20, was chosen as a starting pitcher. He has been one of the top pitchers in the league’s second half and has been the ace of the staff since the departure of Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey. Swarzak is 10-6 with a 3.25 ERA in 25 games including two complete games and one shutout. He leads the league in strikeouts, tied for first in shutouts, tied for second in complete games, third in ERA and tied for third in wins.

Casilla, 22, was chosen as a utility infielder and is tha catalyst atop the Miracle batting order. Casilla hit .331 in 78 games before being promoted to Double-A New Britain on July 14. He still is second in the FSL in batting.

Roberts, 21, was chosen as a starting outfielder. He has been impressive since coming to the Miracle in a trade with the Reds organization. Roberts is hitting .316 in 64 games with the Miracle. He has swiped 27 bases and has an on-base percentage of .374.

Boles, 31, is in his first season at the helm of the Miracle and was voted as a coach. He has guided the Miracle to the best overall record in the FSL, 76-57 through Monday, and is five wins shy of tying the franchise record of 81 wins.

Boles took the 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. His club is 1/2-game up in the Western Division second-half standings with seven games left.

In his five-year managerial career, entering this season, he is 236-228 (.509) and 137-139 (.496) with the Twins. He spent one season playing minor league baseball and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1998. His father John is the a former manager of the Florida Marlins.