The baseball player who lost a staggering amount of weight has piled the pounds back on after discovering he plays worse as a slimmer man. The death of his cousin to heart disease inspired Carsten Charles Sabathia to lose a massive 17kg between October 2013 and March 2014. But the 34-year-old played poorly and many - including himself - believe his skinny figure could not support his towering six-foot, seven-inch frame. So after dropping down to a much healthier 122kg, the Major League baseballer has again ballooned to around 136kg. Before and after: New York Yankees' pitcher CC Sabathia lost 17kg for the 2014 season (left) but piled the pounds back on this year (pictured) The struggle: Sabathia (pictured this year) says the reason he played worse as a skinny man is because he felt 'off balance' Toning up: Sabathia (left) looked in the best shape of his life as he toned up for his wedding to Amber (pictured) in January last year . The New York Yankees pitcher looked in the best shape of his life during on his wedding day in January 2014. Famous for having a more rotund figure, the sportsman showed of his newly toned body in a suit he could not have dreamed of wearing a year before. He said: '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.' The six-time All-Star put on around 9kg while recovering from a knee injury, and 5kg more over the winter. During his 14-year-career, he has weighed as much as 142kg but the loss of his cousin in 2012 inspired Sabathia to battle his obesity for fear he would suffer the same fate. He said: 'I lost a bunch of weight drastically, pretty quick, two years ago. 'Kind of was off balance and didn't know really how my body was working. So just talking to Dr. Ahmad and to the trainers, I feel like this is a good weight.' Bigger man: The six-time All-Star (right) put on around 9kg while recovering from a knee injury, and 5kg more over the winter . Powerful: He said: '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' Even a talent spotter noticed the decline in his usually stellar performances when he was a slim pitcher. He told the Boston Globe: 'The weight loss has created a balance problem for him. He's all over the place. 'He's learning how to pitch in that body, a body he's really never had. I don't think there's anything wrong with him other than that. 'Sometimes you pitch at a certain weight all your life and then someone has the brilliant idea that you should lose weight because it's putting stress on your knees, you do it, and then you're dealing with something else.'
CC Sabathia lost staggering 17kg in just five months to improve his health . He was inspired by death of his cousin to heart disease in December 2012 . The New York Yankees pitcher put weight back on after bad performances . The 34-year-old player says he felt 'off balance' in his new, slimmer figure .