Every year around this time, give or take a few weeks, we get bombarded by stories about players getting into the best shape of their lives. Because there are so many stories about players getting into the best shape of their lives, less attention is paid to players who just got into better shape without doing anything extreme. One player who just got into better shape was CC Sabathia, writes Wallace Matthews:
CC Sabathia And Weight Loss
New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia lost weight over the offseason at the team’s request. Now we get to see if this is going to mean anything.
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Much as he had last spring, Sabathia looked noticeably more svelte at his locker Sunday morning, the first day of pitchers and catchers in Yankees camp. This year, he's saying the weight loss is more in the 10- to 15-pound range, and this time it's for real.
Having reworked his contract over the offseason, the Yankees asked that Sabathia shed pounds, so Sabathia shed pounds. Quite a few of them. There are plenty of stories about guys who drop 20 or 30 pounds, but dropping 10 or 15 is no easy task. So, kudos to Sabathia.
Of course, from earlier in Matthews’ article:
But you also didn’t need to put the big man on a scale to see that the weight loss he brought to spring training a year ago -- he claimed to have lost 30 pounds -- had been replaced, with interest, by the end of the season.
Losing weight is one thing. Keeping that weight off is quite another. A year ago, CC Sabathia lost a lot of weight, and then gained it back. This time he swears things will be different, and things may very well be different, but we’ll see. Words and actions and everything.
Why would it matter that Sabathia get a little lighter? There’s a suggestion in the article that Sabathia’s weight gain might have had something to do with his ballooning ERA down the stretch last season. Sabathia posted a 2.72 ERA in the first half, and a 3.44 ERA in the second half. But, for one thing, that’s hardly “ballooning”. And for another thing, Sabathia’s strikeout-to-walk ratio was better later than it was earlier. His roughest month was August, when he allowed 23 runs in six starts. He also had 45 strikeouts and five walks.
So this probably isn’t so much about Sabathia’s short-term performance. A fatter Sabathia and a thinner Sabathia would presumably pitch just about the same. This is about health. Short-term health, and long-term health. It’s healthier to be thinner than fatter (to a point). Reduced weight means reduced pressure on Sabathia’s knees. Knees are important for a pitcher. Knees are important to everybody. Even the fittest pitcher in baseball puts a burden on his body. The Yankees want Sabathia to put a lesser burden on his body.
CC Sabathia's under guaranteed contract through 2016. There's a vesting 2017 option. He's 31, and he's a big boy. The Yankees want him to be as fit as he can be. So far, Sabathia's weight has cooperated. That isn't big good news, but it's small good news, and now we'll see if he can keep the pounds off as the season gets going. The baseball season is the only marathon on the planet where most people might be heavier at the end than the start.
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