Yankees' bold JC Escarra decision takes center stage again during Clarke Schmidt no-hit bid

If you've ever Ubered in the Miami metro area, there's a chance that your driver is now a catcher for the New York Yankees. By now, everybody is familiar with JC Escarra's story - the longtime independent league standout and minor leaguer who worked odd jobs during the offseason, including substitute teacher and Uber driver, finally debuting with the Yankees in March 2025 at the age of 29, truly an encapsulation of the American Dream. But Escarra is more than just a feel-good story. He's earning his pinstripes and making an impact with his glove and his baseball IQ.

The New York Yankees have four 1-0 wins this season, a remarkable number through mid-June; Escarra has been behind the plate for all of them. As Clarke Schmidt pushed his scoreless innings streak into the mid-20s with seven no-hit innings on Saturday against Baltimore, Escarra was behind the dish again, collecting a homer, two RBI, and three hits. Given the spotlight the Yankees placed themselves under by dealing Carlos Narvaez to the rival Red Sox, watching Escarra shine in his own unique way has been glorious.

When the Yankees traded Jose Trevino to the Reds for Fernando Cruz, fans lamented the loss of Trevino, who had done a fantastic job of calling games and framing pitches. Framing is what it's called when a pitcher throws a pitch in the 'Shadow Zone,' just outside the strike zone, and in one fell swoop, the catcher receives it and brings it to the heart of the plate, leading the umpire to call it a strike instead of a ball. In recent years, since the hiring of Tanner Swanson as catching coordinator, the Yankees have emphasized pitch-framing as a critical part of a catcher's development. Swanson teaches catchers to set up with one knee on the ground rather than the traditional deep squat position. This setup aids framing because catching the ball at a low point and bringing the glove up creates an illusion for the umpire that the ball crossed the plate in the strike zone. Escarra is a master pupil with a league-leading (49.9%) Shadow Zone strike rate.

How does that translate to success on the field? In Escarra's first 18 starts this season, he caught four 1-0 Yankees victories (the franchise record for 1-0 wins is six, 1908 and 1968). His 2.76 catcher's ERA is over a run lower than Austin Wells' (3.80 cERA). Escarra's ability to get the high strike called is where he shines over Wells, who isn't a bad pitch framer himself.

The Yankees might also consider making Escarra Will Warren's personal catcher, because Warren has a 2.97 ERA when Escarra is catching and a 6.56 ERA when Wells is behind the plate. Similarly, Clark Schmidt had a 1.59 ERA with Escarra catching entering Sunday and a 3.74 ERA when Wells is catching; that certainly went down. Devin Williams' ERA with Escarra is 1.83, and it's 6.33 with Wells.

Escarra has been a better hitter than Trevino, the man he replaced. Entering Sunday, Escarra had a 93 OPS+ (which, again, notably rose), which is seven percent worse than the league average, but perfectly acceptable for a backup catcher (Trevino's high water mark with the Yankees was 89 OPS+). The one area that Escarra needs to improve, and improve a lot, is throwing out baserunners. As of June 18th, he is 0-for-17 when people try to steal against him. If he can't throw anybody out on the basepaths, it could come back to haunt the Yankees in October.

However, the good outweighs the bad. Seventeen instances of a runner advancing a base do not negate 250 stolen strikes. Starting a hitter off 0-1 instead of 1-0 leads to a .200 point difference in OPS for that at-bat. And Escarra's ability to call a game, which doesn't show up in a box score, must be top-notch if he's able to catch so many shutouts. Escarra could end up being an X-factor in a short playoff series, especially if he's paired with Warren or Schmidt.