The story of J.C. Escarra is a well-told tale of resilience — flaming out as an infielder in the Orioles system, bouncing from independent league teams in the United States and Mexico while determined to prove himself and reinvent himself as a catcher, which he did and which caught the Yankees’ eye.

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There is an alternate universe, though, in which Escarra enjoys a smoother path to the big leagues. That path would have led to Queens.

Because the breakthrough that brought Escarra back to relevance, back to affiliated baseball, remarkably to the Yankees and unthinkably to the major leagues — the Mets saw it first.

Back in 2013, Escarra was a third baseman and senior at Mater Academy Charter School in Hialeah, Fla., who was convinced he was an infielder until he began talking with Mike Silvestri, then a scout with the Mets.