Every season has its feel-good story, and for the 2025 Yankees, that feel-good story was J.C. Escarra. With 2022 Platinum Glove winner Jose Trevino traded to the Cincinnati Reds over the winter, the Yankees entered spring training with an opening behind the plate. Despite having a disadvantage in the position battle because he, like starter Austin Wells, is a left-handed hitter, the veteran minor leaguer seized a roster spot with a strong spring training. After years languishing in the minors and in independent
ball, Escarra finally made his Major League debut.
Although his numbers at the plate did not jump off the page, Escarra quickly became a favorite both in the clubhouse and with the fanbase. But now headed into his sophomore campaign, the son-to-be-31 year old will once again have to fight for playing time in what is a crowded Yankees catcher room.
2025 statistics: 40 games, 98 plate appearances, .202/.296/.333, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 79 wRC+, 11.2 BB%, 14.3 K%, 2 Defensive Runs Saved, 0 Outs Above Average, 0.1 rWAR, 0.5 fWAR
2026 ZiPS DC projections: 32 games, 130 plate appearances, .234/.313/.366, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 92 wRC+, 9.6 BB%, 17.0 K%, 0.5 fWAR
From a purely performance-based perspective, Escarra should end the spring as the Yankees’ backup catcher. While he was a bit below average blocking pitches and throwing out baserunners last season, he established himself as one of the league’s best pitch framers. Despite being behind the plate for just 1831 pitches last season, he accumulated 5 Framing Runs, good for eighth in the league — and tied with Carlos Narváez and Pedro Pagés, who each caught more than 7600 pitches last season. His 49.6 shadow strike percentage, meanwhile, topped the league. Austin Wells may have been one of the best defensive catchers in baseball last year, but when it came to pitch framing, he wasn’t even the best on his own team. Furthermore, although he’s not exactly a force with the bat, Escarra’s good plate discipline (his 11.2 walk percentage ranked in the top 20th percentile, while his 14.3 strikeout percentage was in the top 12th) ensures that he shouldn’t be a black hole at the plate. For a backup catcher, that’s more than acceptable.
Unfortunately for Escarra, he’s not simply competing for the backup catcher job, he’s competing against the opportunity cost of carrying three catchers on the active roster. Last season, Escarra rapidly lost playing time when Giancarlo Stanton returned from the injured list, as Ben Rice began to split time at first base and behind the plate in order to keep his bat in the lineup, and Escarra ultimately wound up back in Triple-A for the final two months of the season. With Rice now penciled in as the everyday first baseman, it would seem that the road would be clear for Escarra’s return to the Bronx…but then the Yankees brought back Paul Goldschmidt.
Of the Yankees four bench spots, one will be occupied by Goldschmidt, one by Amed Rosario, and very likely, one by Oswaldo Cabrera, thus leaving one spot open. Escarra is the obvious choice, allowing Rice to forego his catcher’s mitt except in the case of emergency — after all, he was less-than-stellar behind the plate anyway, and still needs to continue to develop his defense at the cold corner. Indeed, at the time of writing, the FanGraphs Depth Chart even lists Escarra as the fourth man on the projected active roster. But, might the Yankees consider it a better use of limited roster space to send Escarra down, let Rice serve as the backup catcher, and fill out the roster with a true fourth outfielder in Jasson Domínguez? Or perhaps a minor leaguer who is out of options such as Jorbit Vivas, or a veteran backup shortstop like Paul DeJong? It’s certainly possible.
Regardless of how the end-of-spring roster crunch ends up shaking out, though, Escarra has firmly put himself into the Yankees’ plans this season. Even if he starts the year with a ticket to Scranton, he’s just one injury to one of Wells, Rice, Goldschmidt, or Giancarlo Stanton away from earning a trip back to the Bronx — and it’s never bad to have that kind of depth.
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