Theories about C. C. Sabathia’s declining performance the last two seasons include the effect of his heavy workload — an average of 227 innings over 16 seasons — and his operation for bone chips in his pitching elbow after the 2012 season.

But then there is the theory, maybe not that far-fetched, that there is less life on Sabathia’s pitches because there is less of Sabathia these days.

A 6-foot-7 pitcher with a wide girth and a longtime fondness for Cap’n Crunch cereal, Sabathia said he lost 25 pounds after the 2011 season to help take pressure off his knees after arthroscopic surgery.

Then, Sabathia said, he lost about 20 pounds after the 2012 season.

He indeed looked thinner on the mound in 2013, down to perhaps 270 pounds after weighing more than 300 in his first seasons in New York, which included a World Series championship in 2009.