Ex-FIU standout J.C. Escarra getting set for August 1-3 homecoming against Marlins

Miami Herald

6 days ago

Baby, what a time to be alive.
Juan Carlos Escarra III was born a couple of weeks ago in the middle of the greatest year of his father's life.
That baby's father – known as J.C. Escarra – played at Mater Academy and then FIU before wandering around baseball's minor leagues for eight years. After getting released by the Baltimore Orioles in April of 2022, Escarra played for the Gastonia Honey Hunters in independent baseball, the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League and Ponce in Puerto Rican winter ball, among others.
Finally, this year, on March 29, Escarra made his major-league debut as a pinch-hitter and a backup catcher for perhaps the most famous team in all of American sports, the New York Yankees.
'I can talk a lot more about what the major leagues are,' Escarra, 30, told The Herald during this week's All-Star break. 'It's steak and shrimp. It's five-star hotels. It's 40,000 fans every night. It is, bro. I'm living the dream.'
Indeed, the video of Escarra sitting in the Yankees clubhouse this past March and calling to tell his Cuban-born mother, Marinelys, that he had made the Yankees out of spring training is a tear-jerker.
Said Escarra: 'Acabo de hablar con (Yankees manager) Boone,' (I just talked to Boone.)
His mom, sensing some important news: 'No, dime!' (No, tell me!)
Escarra: 'Vamos para Nueva York!' (We're going to New York!)
At that point, Escarra's mom starts screaming. Escarra is smiling … and then seconds later wiping away tears.
'I saw the video again just yesterday,' Escarra said on Wednesday. 'It never gets old. It still makes me cry.'
On Tuesday, Escarra flew home to Hialeah, where he and his wife, Jocelyn, own an apartment they share with their newborn son.
Jocelyn and the baby will join J.C. in New York as soon as the little guy is able to travel.
Years from now, Juan Carlos Escarra III will be able to read a book about his father, watch a movie about his dad and also a documentary because all of that is in the works.
TIGHT FAMILY
The story starts in Cuba where J.C. Escarra's parents, Marinelys and Juan Carlos, were born. They met and settled in Hialeah with their two sons, J.C. and Michael Derek Escarra, whose middle name – ironically – was given in honor of former Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.
J.C. said his father worked three jobs while Marinelys went to nursing school.
Money was tight, but Escarra said he never lacked for anything.
'Growing up, my pops put me in baseball,' Escarra said. 'There was never a tournament that my mom and dad didn't take me to. They didn't make a lot of money, but they always got me private coaching, and they didn't mind.'
Escarra met Jocelyn in ninth-grade biology class at Mater Academy, and they started dating a couple years later.
'I didn't like him at first,' Jocelyn said with a laugh. 'No, I did, but he was after me a little more.
'It's his personality (that won me over). He's always happy, he's always smiling, and he's always positive.'
While that relationship was starting to blossom, Escarra was making his mark as a Mater Academy baseball player.
Eddie Gorriz, the coach at Mater at the time, said Escarra had 'really good hands and a cannon for an arm.'
Escarra was a corner infielder, and Kevin Abraham, who later played for Florida Atlantic University, was Mater's catcher.
'Since J.C. is a lefty hitter who throws righty,' Gorriz said, 'the scouts would be all over me to put him behind the dish.'
Escarra said Mets scout Mike Silvestri was the first person to suggest he should play catcher.
But Escarra had no experience at the position, and Gorriz was trying to win games not please scouts.
Translation: The only catching experience Escarra got in high school was in intra-squad games.
Even so, the Mets drafted Escarra – as a catcher – in the 32nd round in 2013.
Getting drafted so low, it was fairly easy for Escarra to turn down the Mets, opting to play at FIU.
But as an FIU freshman in 2014, Escarra sat behind catcher Aramis Garcia, who went on to get drafted by the Giants in the second round that year.
For the next three years at FIU, Escarra played catcher only sporadically and was instead used mostly at DH and first base. Escarra also missed his junior season due to shoulder surgery.
On the positive side, he earned his Bachelor's degree from FIU in 2017, majoring in Recreation and Sports Management.
Also that year, J.C. and Jocelyn got engaged.
It happened after an FIU baseball game. Unbeknownst to Jocelyn, Escarra had all his family and friends remain in the stands.
Ever the romantic, Escarra had arranged for giant letters to stretch from first to third base, and they read:
WILL YOU MARRY ME?
There were also rose petals, fireworks, a violinist and a 'yes' from Jocelyn.
Capping off 2017, the Orioles drafted Escarra in the 15th round.
Kelvin Colon, who was the Orioles area scout at the time, shared with The Herald the scouting report he wrote on Escarra eight years ago.
'Knows his role,' Colon wrote. 'Good leader. Winning-type player. Would consider drafting him in the ninth or 10th round.'
The Orioles heeded that advice, taking Escarra a few rounds later.
'It was the (character) that drew me,' Colon said. 'Being a late-round draftee, you have to be passionate about the game.
'He comes from a blue-collar Cuban-American family. That's his foundation, and I knew he would do whatever it took to make it to the majors.'
ADVERSITY HITS
Escarra reached Triple-A in 2021, posting a .673 OPS in 58 games.
But when the Orioles released him the following year, Escarra was devastated. The date of the release was April 6, 2022 – just six months before Escarra and Jocelyn were to be married.
Escarra had a notion to quit baseball at that time, but his family wouldn't let him.
To make ends meet, Escarra worked as an Uber driver, and there was also Jocelyn's salary as a teacher.
In the meantime, Escarra – who had been used mostly as a first baseman in the Orioles organization – instructed his agent to find him a team that would allow him to play catcher.
That led to seven different teams over the next two years before the Yankees signed him in January of 2024, sending Escarra to Double-A Somerset. At Somerset, Escarra played catcher behind Ben Rice, who is now the Yankees DH, and Agustin Ramirez, who this year has become a Marlins rookie sensation.
In November of 2024, the Yankees put Escarra on their 40-man roster so that they would not lose him to minor-league free agency.
Mervyl Melendez, who coached Escarra in his final season at FIU, completely gets why the Yankees would make that move.
'J.C.'s character is unbelievable,' Melendez said. 'In the year he played for me, J.C. got off to a slow start. I benched him for a few games to give him a mental break, and he came back and hit 15 homers the rest of the season.
'He never let his ego get in the way. As a pro, he went down to play independent ball – just a humble and persistent guy and one of the best human beings I've ever been around.'
HARD AT WORK
Escarra is one of only two former FIU players currently in the majors – the other is Cleveland pitcher Logan Allen.
Beyond that, Escarra is also one of the hardest-working players in the majors.
For a 7 p.m. home game, Escarra arrives at the stadium at about 12:30 or 12:45.
A lot of that time prior to first pitch is spent in meetings as Escarra and starting catcher Austin Wells go over the scouting report on every opposing hitter.
Escarra also has to know every opposing pitcher. Then there's on-field work – batting practice and fielding practice.
'A lot of meetings,' Escarra said. 'But it's our livelihood, and I wouldn't change it.'
During games, even if Escarra is not playing, he is sitting next to Wells and Yankees catching coach Tanner Swanson.
'I'm locked in,' Escarra said. 'Let's say (Wells) stubs his toe, I'm expected to go in and hold it down.'
As a catcher, Escarra said, he is constantly thinking 'three steps ahead,' reading swings and pondering who is on deck, for example.
The Escarra family is also thinking ahead … to August 1-3 when the Yankees will visit the Marlins for three games.
You can bet his family members will all be there, including Escarra's mother, who is still a nurse at Jackson Hospital; his brother, who is also a nurse at Jackson; and his father, who recently retired from Comcast at age 65.
Another part of Escarra's core group of family members is his maternal grandmother, Maria Sosa.
As stated, this is a blue-collar, tight-knit family. His parents went to Hialeah High, and they still live in the house where Escarra grew up. And Escarra, Jocelyn and the baby live just five minutes away.
'Whatever I've gone through in my career, my family has gone through it, too,' Escarra said. 'That's why it was so emotional when I finally made the majors.'
A lot has changed for Escarra this year as he is now making a handsome salary – the major-league minimum is $760,000 per season.
Escarra is also enjoying the big-city life that is part of the fabric of New York.
'There's a coffee shop on every corner,' he said.
Escarra added that he's been recognized on the streets of New York a few times.
'Especially in the first couple of weeks after I made the team,' he said. 'That's when I was on The Today Show, and my story was really out there.
'it's incredible. Just last year I was a nobody, driving an Uber and just trying to get by, and now this. It's mind-blowing.'