Meet J.C. Escarra, the Uber Driver-Turned-Yankees Catcher With a Feel-Good Story

Escarra made the Yankees nearly two years after he worked as a substitute teacher and Uber driver to make ends meet.

New York Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Nearly two years before J.C. Escarra made the Opening Day roster for the New York Yankees, he was working as an Uber driver and a substitute teacher on the side of playing independent baseball, just trying to keep his dream of one day making the big leagues alive.

Escarra, a 15th-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 2017, spent nearly five years in the Orioles' minor league system before he was released at the end of spring training in 2022. He began playing independent baseball for multiple leagues, including the American Association, Puerto Rican Winter League, Atlanta League of Professional Baseball, and Mexican League. After getting married in 2022, Escarra briefly worked as an Uber driver and substitute teacher to make some money. His wife, Jocelyn, also worked multiple jobs to make ends meet.

Escarra would ultimately sign a minor-league contract with the Yankees in January 2024, and spent the season with the Yankees' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. After a strong spring training in 2025, Yankees manager Aaron Boone named Escarra to the club's roster.

Shortly after Escarra found out he made the team, he called his mom, who was overcome with emotions after learning her son had made the Yankees.

“When he called me, I was not expecting anything,” his mother, Marinelys, said while appearing with her son on TODAY. “So, I was talking to my mom, and then I said, ‘Look, J.C.’s calling,’ so as soon as I got it and then he start talking, I was normal until he say that (he made the team). And then I said, ‘Ohhhh.’ And then I start crying.”

Escarra's mom cried again when arriving at Yankee Stadium on Thursday ahead of the Yankees' Opening Day game. Escarra did not play in the Yankees' 4-2 win, but was in uniform on Opening Day as a member of a big-league roster for the first time in his career. He also had his own full-circle moment ahead of the game, fittingly taking an Uber driver to Yankee Stadium for Opening Day.

“It was pretty cool. Got down there and there was an Uber Black luxury waiting for me. Felt pretty special,” Escarra said, via The Associated Press.

“There was a time in my life that I thought I wasn’t going to be playing baseball no more," Escarra said. "So to wake up this morning as a Major League Baseball player, especially for for the New York Yankees, it means the world to me."

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