The New York Yankees are relying on left-hander CC Sabathia, who made just eight starts in 2014 after years of being a reliable workhorse, to regain his ace form in 2015. In order to do that, Sabathia has ditched his weight loss plan of the past two years and reported to camp at more than 300 pounds.
New look to The First Shot. @CC_Sabathia starts his tour of Pearl Pavilion by finishing the game. #WEAREJORDAN pic.twitter.com/fnImnq02IX
— Jordan (@Jumpman23) February 14, 2015
Hanging out at the launch of @PlayersTribune this weekend pic.twitter.com/KWkpK30Btx — CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) February 17, 2015
"I feel like this is a good weight," Sabathia said. "I feel a little stronger. I feel my legs under me, being a lot stronger, and being able to push off the mound."
Last season a slimmed-down Sabathia opened up spring training at a svelte 275 pounds, but his performance didn't reflect any positive effects. In fact after seven straight seasons of sub-4.00 ERA, the slimmer CC posted back-to-back marks of 4.78 and 5.23. Sabathia has attributed part of his swift decline to the weight loss efforts.
"I lost a bunch of weight drastically, pretty quick, two years ago, and was kind of off-balance. I didn't know really how my body was working."
Usually when players report to camp at much larger weights than the previous season, it's cause for concern. In Yankees camp that's not the case according to manager Joe Girardi.
"He's probably had success at a lot of different weights," Girardi said. "The big thing for us is to keep him out there."
Heavy or light, Sabathia's biggest concern will be his degenerative right knee, which may cause problems no matter what. Sabathia addressed that with The New York Daily News.
"It's just maintenance with the shots and just trying to make sure I keep the swelling down and stay on top of it. It's a bum knee, but it feels good right now so I'm ready to go."
He will also have to adjust his pitching style to deal with decreased velocity. His average fastball was down to 89 miles per hour, while his sinker dropped two miles an hour as well. Prior to 2014 Sabathia had dealt 200-plus innings for seven straight years, topping 240 innings in 2007 and 2008.
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