Escarra displays his power, hose and ... wait, HOW many bottles of cologne?

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – There’s the old adage that if you look good, you play good.

For Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra, it’s also about smelling good.

After New York's backstop went 3-for-4 with a home run in the Yankees' 3-2 win over the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park on Tuesday, a special interviewer joined the media scrum in front of Escarra’s locker.

It was Yankees infielder Oswaldo Cabrera. He wanted to know how many bottles of cologne Escarra had in his collection.

“If I were to count – I don’t know the exact number, but probably more than 100,” Escarra said, adding he likes to mix it up as the days pass by.

“I rotate,” Escarra said. “So if I’ve used one a couple times already, I might put it to the back and get the next one in line.”

In Escarra’s locker Tuesday, he had two bottles in his possession: one for practice, and one for after the game.

“But you won’t see those ever again after this week,” Escarra said. “I’ll get two new ones.”

But then, as superstitions are as much a part of the game of baseball as anything, he reconsidered.

“You know what, I had a good day,” Escarra said. “I think I have to stick with these for a little while.”

It was a good day indeed for the 30-year-old, who is coming into his own as the Yankees' backup catcher.

In Escarra’s first trip to the plate, he sent a second-pitch fastball way over the boardwalk in right field. He turned around Ryan Pepiot's 94.3 mph fastball and sent it a Statcast-projected 438 feet for a no-doubt shot that flew off the bat at 108.4 mph.

Escarra also collected hits in his second and fourth trips to the plate, and he still hit the ball well when he recorded an out via a 100.8 mph lineout to center in the sixth.

“I feel good,” Escarra said of his presence in the batter’s box. “Just getting a pitch I could handle and putting my best swing on it.”

Along with a great day at the plate, Escarra also threw out Ben Williamson in the seventh inning, which he said was his favorite part of the day.

“[It’s] something that we’ve been working on,” Escarra said. “I know last year as a whole, as a catching staff, we have to do a little bit better job at throwing out baserunners. A lot has to do with pitchers and timing and good throws and stuff like that. To actually execute it, I felt good about it.”

While you can tell just by the way he talks that Escarra is a connoisseur of cologne, he has had the opportunity this spring to show his stuff a bit more with Austin Wells playing in the World Baseball Classic.

Escarra is hitting .276 with three home runs and five RBIs in 29 Grapefruit League at-bats.

“J.C. is a really good player,” said manager Aaron Boone. “I tell him this, too. He just hasn’t got a chance yet. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s a top-half-of-the-league catcher.”

With more home runs this camp than he had in 98 plate appearances last year for New York, Escarra said he’s now using a Torpedo bat, which he said was suggested via the club’s analytics team.

Escarra did own a Torpedo bat last year, but he said he wasn’t quite a believer like he is to start 2026.

“I bought into the Torpedo bats, so maybe it’s that,” Escarra said of his aptitude for hard contact this spring. “Maybe it’s not, but I like to think so.

“This year I said I’m going to live and die by this bat. I found one that feels comfortable, and they made it into how my swing works. I’m seeing it through.

“It gives me the biggest barrel that I can use, so maybe that pitch I used to miss, I’m foul-tipping it and giving me another chance to hit. It’s all about the small advantages that it gives me.”

The model he’s using? One that’s modeled after the bat of teammate Aaron Judge, which he said is a little heavier.

“I used one of his bats in the offseason,” Escarra said. “I liked it, so they made it into a Torpedo.”