Former Teacher, Uber Driver Has a New Job Title: Catcher for the New York Yankees

Even when he might not have had a lot of believers, J.C. Escarra believed in himself. And on Saturday, that belief paid off.

Escarra, 29, capped his incredible baseball journey to this point with a meeting in the office of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who informed the catcher that he was a member of the team’s Opening Day roster.

Last month, Joel Sherman of the New York Post shared part of the Escarra story with a tantalizing tease on social media.

“Not long ago J.C. Escarra was an Uber driver, a substitute teacher and a Gastonia Honey Hunter. This spring he just might make the Yankees,” read Sherman’s post on X.

ICYMI https://t.co/WMWF4MCi5h Not long ago J.C. Escarra was an Uber driver, a substitute teacher and a Gastonia Honey Hunter. This spring he just might make the Yankees.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) February 16, 2025

And make the team he did after a terrific spring training in Tampa, Fla.

In 16 games, he hit .333 (15-for-45) with six runs, two doubles, three home runs and seven RBIs. He also worked on his catching mechanics.

In a video shared by the Yankees, Escarra was seen sitting across the desk from Boone and listened as the manager started off in a manner that likely led Escarra to believe he’d be sent back to the minors.

“This is difficult to have to do because I know you put yourself in a really good position and you’ve done everything we could have expected. You’ve gotten better as a catcher, you rake and you came in here and showed it. But, as you know, we have a lot of catching depth so that’s what makes this hard,” Boone said before a pause.

“Now you’re going to the big leagues.”

Escarra erupted with happiness and thanked his manager.

“What a journey. And it’s just getting started now, right? Now we’ve got real things to go chase," Boone said.

From Uber driver to substitute teacher to the Yankees in 2025.

J.C. Escarra’s journey continues in the Bronx 💙 pic.twitter.com/9Nk7wbwqlW
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 22, 2025

A pro since 2017, Escarra has yet to make his major league debut. That all can change when the team gets to the Bronx.

The Orioles selected Escarra in the fifth round of the 2017 MLB Draft from Florida International University, where he hit .305 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs as a senior.

He traveled throughout the Baltimore minor league system, from Frederick to Aberdeen to Norfolk to Bowie – becoming a first baseman along the way – before the Orioles released him in April 2022 after nearly 350 games played.

After that, he made four stops in the independent and foreign leagues and vowed to revert to a catcher. How? According to Sherman’s report, he watched videos on the internet.

And because he made not much money through baseball, he delivered food, worked for a contractor, was a high school substitute teacher and a private baseball coach, and drove for Uber to pay the bills, per the Post.

Along the way, Yankees scout Raul Gonzalez discovered him before the 2024 season, and the Yankees said they wanted to sign him to a minor-league deal to catch, play first base or serve as the DH. After 72 games at Double-A Somerset, where he hit a so-so .233, he was promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He batted .302 with eight home runs and 34 BRIs in 52 games.

After that showing, the Yankees put him on the 40-man roster. In the interim, he won the Dominican Winter League batting title with a .363 average.

Now, he’s headed to New York as the backup catcher for the Yankees. A remarkable journey indeed.

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