TAMPA, Fla. -- When CC Sabathia was at his best, the lefty was among the biggest players in the game. And not just in popularity, but size. Sabathia would routinely pack more than 300 pounds onto his 6-foot-7 frame, his belly protruding well over his belt.

But in 2013, concerned about his health, Sabathia showed up to Yankees spring training looking relatively svelte at 275 pounds. He promptly had the worst season of his career, his ERA ballooning to 4.78 as he went 14-13. Things didn't get better in 2014, either, as his campaign was ravaged by degenerative knee condition that limited him to just eight starts.

An offseason an a knee surgery later, Sabathia's back. Back with the Yankees. And back to being among baseball's largest hurlers, weighing 305 pounds this spring, he told reporters at George M. Steinbrenner Field Saturday, the first day of pitchers and catchers workouts this spring.

Manager Joe Girardi, however, said he's not even thinking about Sabathia's weight.

"Whether he's 2 pounds heavier or 2 pounds less, I'm not worried about it," the manager said. "That's not my concern."

Sabathia doesn't appear concerned with his waistline, either.

Instead, he's more concentrated on his knee, which didn't appear to give him any problems during a 25-pitch bullpen session Saturday morning. Mixing fastballs with change ups to catcher John Ryan Murphy, Sabathia completed the workout having hardly broken a sweat. It was the first time he'd thrown off a mound since a minor league rehab start in the middle of last season.

Thats good news for the Yankees, who hope he can regain his form as a 200-inning workhorse, even if his drop in fastball velocity over recent years means that he's no longer a Cy Young-caliber pitcher.

"That's your hope, that you'll get 200 innings, (and) 30 or 32 starts out of him," Girardi said. "But that's your hope for all your starting pitchers. Pretty sure that's not going to happen. You're not going to get 1,000 innings out of your rotation. You take what you can get abad you adjust to it. Our hope is we can get him back to that."

For his part, Sabathia has been trying to stay healthy, routinely taking platelet-rich plasma injections into his knee, a process aimed at slowing its degenerative condition while working out at Yankee Stadium.

"Just keep up the maintenance and make sure it's good enough to go out there and play," he said.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.