New tattoo commemorates the beginning of Escarra's feel-good story

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch's Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

TAMPA, Fla. – J.C. Escarra imagines a day far down the road – maybe sometime around 2076 – when someone will have questions about his experiences playing for the Yankees..

He’ll roll up his left sleeve and have the perfect way to begin the story.

“I know I’ll be 80 years old and someone’s going to ask me about it, and then I can tell them all about it,” Escarra said. “I think about my journey, where I’m at, what I’ve got and what God has done to bring me right here. It means a lot to me.”

Escarra’s against-the-odds flip from Uber driver to Yankees catcher was one of baseball’s most heartwarming tales of the 2025 season – a time that Escarra never wants to forget, and not just because of what transpired on the diamond.

It was also the year he became a father, as Escarra and his wife, Jocelyn, welcomed a son, J.C. III.

This past offseason, after returning home to the Miami area and beginning preparations for another camp in pinstripes, the 30-year-old Escarra wasn’t quite ready to close the books on everything that had transpired.

Scrolling through Instagram, Escarra came across the work of Giona Starace (@gionastarace_tattoo), a Miami-based tattoo artist who specializes in black-and-gray realism.

After exchanging a few messages, Escarra knew exactly what he wanted.

“I always wanted a tattoo, but my pops and my mom, they’re pretty strict,” Escarra said. “They said, ‘When you’re in this house, no earrings, no tattoos.’ So I respected that. A lot of people get a rose or an eye or a clock. I wanted something that would actually mean something to me.”

When Escarra made his first Major League start on March 29 against the Brewers, Yankees photographer Ariele Goldman Hecht snapped an image from behind home plate before the bottom of the first inning.

Escarra was in his catcher’s crouch, awaiting Carlos Carrasco’s first warmup tosses. He took a moment to survey the Bronx landscape – the lights and energy in front of him, the uniform No. 25 stitched upon his back.

“I don’t even think he was on the mound yet. I was there early,” Escarra said. “I can remember just looking out at the stadium and the people. It was one of those moments of, ‘Wow.’”

For Escarra, the image came to represent his perseverance -- bouncing back from a 2022 release from the Orioles, grinding through independent leagues and stops like Mexico and Puerto Rico, along with the odd jobs he took to make ends meet.

“Arie’s photo, I’m just blown away of how sick it is,” Escarra said. “It’s me, just looking out at Yankee Stadium. Everyone loves it. Tattoos are funny; some people like them, some people don’t. But even people that don’t have tattoos, they’re like, ‘Wow, it looks great.’”

The moment, captured by Hecht and copied by Starace, now sits above an image of his son. Escarra also has a tattoo of his mother, Marinelys, near his left biceps, along with an eagle. Escarra said the artwork took about eight hours to complete, including breaks.

“You’ve got to find someone specific who’s good at that,” Escarra said. “Some people are good at cartoons, and other people are good at realistic tattoos. This guy killed it with this tattoo. I don’t think I’ll ever regret it.”

Escarra batted .202 (17-for-84) with two homers and 11 RBIs in 40 games last season. He played 30 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Ben Rice began stepping in as a part-time catcher during the second half.

At present, Escarra appears slotted to begin the year as Austin Wells’ backup, the Yankees again expected to carry a set of left-handed-hitting catchers. Escarra believes he can show more at the plate and in the field, saying his story isn’t finished yet.

But he already has one heck of an opening chapter. And if you doubt that, just take a look at his left arm.

“It means,” Escarra said, “that all things are possible.”