CC Sabathia Shed's Weight In Hopes for Better Results

When most people lose 40 pounds the compliments are endless. Yet, when a significantly slimmed down CC Sabathia showed up to spring training in Tampa Florida 40 ponds lighter than last season, he was ridiculed all over social media.

"I tweeted out a couple pictures of myself and I just couldn't believe the reaction from some people. I actually had to just laugh," said Sabathia. "I mean, losing weight is a good thing. I didn't do it to make myself worse. I did it to make myself better."

Non the less, I do understand the fans concerns. As a Yankees advocate I can attest that it's initially alarming to see CC Sabathia on the field in spring training as a mere image of the young pitcher who quickly became the ace of Cleveland Indians and the winner of the 2007 A.L. Cy Young award before commanding too much money to stay on the shores of Lake Erie just over a decade ago. During his 14 year tenure, the heaviest Sabathia ever weighed was 315 pounds. This spring he weighed in at 270 pounds. It's completely fair for fans to question whether this significant weight loss will impact the velocity of Sabathia's pitches and the mechanics of his pitching that he's become so accustomed to over the years.

In the midst of pitchers and catchers reporting to George M. Steinbrenner field in Tampa, Florida, it was widely reported that Sabathia was motivated to lose weight after the death of a 45 year old cousin who died of a heart disease 15 months ago. The unfortunate passing of his cousin caused the southpaw to rethink his weight as well as his diet and conditioning and to ponder how the possibility of combatting obesity could leave his wife Amber and three young children fatherless.

From a baseball perspective, CC is hoping his weight loss will result in better performance. He is coming off his worst season in 2013, going 14-13 with a 4.78 ERA in 32 starts. The 14-13 win total was his lowest as a Yankee, and his ERA slightly below a 5.00 was the worst of his career.

"I'm getting older," said the 33 year old. "I could pitch with the extra weight when I was younger, but I think I'm giving myself a chance to pitch a high level for a longer time by being in better shape."

The Yankees will need CC Sabathia to pitch well this season if they wan't to contend for playoffs. They'll hope he can return to his old form, especially because they're paying him a salary of $23 million for the next two seasons and $25 million in 2016 with another $25 million vesting option for 2017.