Nick Laham/Getty New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia began losing weight in 2013.

Since then he has struggled, starting just 40 games in the last two seasons and posting a combined ERA of 4.87 — well above his career average of 3.63.

His 2014 season was cut short because of injury, and he felt it was because of drastic weight loss, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

Sabathia, at 6'7", trimmed down to about 275 pounds two seasons ago. According to Feinsand, he added 30 pounds this offseason, weighing in at training camp at 305 pounds.

He told the Daily News:

“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.”

...

“I feel like this is a good weight. I feel a little stronger. I feel my legs under me, being a lot stronger, and being able to push off the mound.”

Yankees manager Joe Girardi approved of the weight-gain, noting that Sabathia had success in the past when he weighed closer to 300 pounds.

Here's Sabathia in 2011 before the weight loss:

Nick Laham/Getty

Here he is in 2014 after he lost the weight and reported to training camp at 275 pounds:

Jared Wickerham/Getty

And here's at training camp Sabathia on February 21, 2015:

Kim Klement/Reuters

His weight gain goes against the conventional thinking that athletes should lose weight as they get older to reduce the stress on their bodies. Given Sabathia's history, it'll be interesting to see if he bounces back after adding a considerable amount of weight over a year.

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