Gio Brusa

Giovanni James Brusa

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 230 lb.
• School University of the Pacific
• High School St. Mary's High School (Stockton)

• Born July 26, 1993 in Lodi, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Gio Brusa was drafted three times before finally signing a professional contract with the San Francisco Giants. Coming out of high school, he was taken by the Atlanta Braves in the 37th round of the 2012 amateur draft, then in the 2015 amateur draft, the St. Louis Cardinals took him in the 23rd round. The third time was the right one, as the Giants selected him in the 6th round of the 2016 amateur draft, coming out of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. As a senior there in 2016, he had hit .337 in 52 games, with 14 homers and 46 RBIs.

He played his first professional season in 2016 with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League, hitting .264/.298/.496 in 53 games, with 10 homers and 42 RBIs. He was both a mid-season and postseason All-Star thanks to that excellent maiden season. He followed that in 2017 by hitting .237/.296/.432 in 113 games for the San Jose Giants of the California League. He hit 28 doubles and 17 homers, but as can be surmised from his slash line, plate discipline was an issue as he struck out 124 times, against 33 walks. He was back with the same team in 2018 and put up a very similar line - .238/.298/.458 in 107 games. He hit with good power again, with 23 doubles and 19 homers and drove in 70 runs. On April 11th, he was part of a very rare feat in an 18-6 win over the Lancaster Jethawks as both he and teammate Jalen Miller hit for the cycle in the same game, with the two getting the elusive triple in their final at-bat, in the 8th and 9th innings respectively. At the time, the feat was thought to be unprecedented, but on August 7th of the same year, two other players, Kevin Newman and Jacob Stallings of the Indianapolis Indians, would pull it off as well. Later that year, on June 10th, he hit three homers, scored five runs and collected six RBIs in a 16-5 win over the Modesto Nuts.

In 2019, he played at three different levels, starting off with the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the AA Eastern League, then going back to San Jose for a month a week later, being moved up to the AAA Sacramento RiverCats for one game, and then finishing the year back at Richmond. In all, he played 121 games, hitting .204/.302/.387 with 15 homers and 41 RBIs. Ironically, it was his .115 average in 19 Class A games that brought his season numbers down. For the third straight year, he struck out well over 100 times, with 136 Ks. He was then forced to sit out the 2020 season when the minor leagues were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic and he was released by the Giants at the end of March, just as the health crisis started. He did not play anywhere in 2021 either, but in 2022 made a comeback in the independent leagues, playing a total of 80 games for two teams in the American Association, the Lake Country DuckHounds and the Kansas City Monarchs. His combined batting line was .258/.353/.457 with 16 homers and 63 RBIs, and his ratio of 40 walks to 84 strikeouts was actually pretty good for a hitter of his type.

Related Sites

• University of the Pacific bio