J.C. Escarra, Former Substitute Teacher and Uber Driver, in Tears Telling Mom He Made New York Yankees Roster

J.C. Escarra is headed to the big leagues!

The MLB catcher, who worked part time as a substitute teacher and an Uber driver throughout his career in the New York Yankees’ minor league system, received the news on Sunday, March 23 that he had made the team’s major league club.

Escarra, 29, was surprised by the news, which was delivered to him during a one-on-one meeting with Yankees manager Aaron Boone and later shared in a video clip on the Yankees’ Instagram account.

Afterwards, the Yankees shared another emotional video showing Escarra calling his mother to tell her the good news.

“We’re going to New York,” Escarra told his mother over the phone, as she erupted in celebration. “The dream came true!”

“I can’t believe it, my love!” Escarra’s mother shrieked in response. Escarra began to tear up in response to his mother’s excitement.

“We did it,” he told her, as tears visibly dripped from his face.

“You made the team?” she asked, almost in disbelief.

“I made the team,” her son confirmed, turning to the camera with a gigantic smile.

“Still crying,” Escarra wrote on Instagram, responding to the post.

In his meeting with Boone, the 52-year-old Yankees manager told Escarra that he had “earned” his spot on the team’s major league roster after a stellar spring training. Boone added that he “can’t wait” to watch Escarra begin his major league career, as the 29-year-old rookie jumped up from his chair and gave his new manager an enormous hug.

“A dream come true,” Escarra wrote in a comment on Instagram.

Escarra was tied for second on the team with 16 hits during the Yankees’ spring training season, including eight RBIs and a .333 batting average — one of the highest on the team. The Hialeah, Fla., native also had a perfect fielding percentage over 17 games behind the plate, committing zero errors.

The new Yankees catcher told MLB.com that he started driving for Uber in order to keep his dream of playing major league baseball alive, living “paycheck to paycheck” while navigating the notoriously tumultuous minor league system.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“I had just gotten married and bought an apartment with my wife [Jocelyn],” Escarra told the website. “So now I’ve got a mortgage to pay and a wife to provide for. I had to make money somehow, and no one was going to take away my home from me. I knew I had to make those payments, so I was doing anything it took.”

For Escarra, the hard work paid off. He and the Yankees will begin the 2025 MLB season on Thursday, March 27 when they host the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day.