TAMPA — In case Giancarlo Stanton’s words were not enough — and he spoke of “flushing [last season] down the toilet” — he also had the look of someone who was ready to begin anew.

The Yankees’ designated hitter did not claim to be in the best shape of his life, perhaps because his muscular, chiseled frame has never come close to being out of shape.

But a noticeably slimmer Stanton reported to spring training on Monday in the shape that he and the Yankees believe will give him the best chance of bouncing back from the worst year of his career.

Following an offseason in which his workouts were “more movement-based,” Stanton had a simple goal in mind.

“Be a baseball player again,” Stanton said Monday morning at Steinbrenner Field. “I just needed to be more mobile. A lot of setbacks [last season] kept me not moving the way I’d like to be.”

Stanton said he did more running over the offseason than years past, and while he declined to reveal his weight (he has consistently been listed at 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds throughout his MLB career), he also said “there will be some changes” to his swing.

The 34-year-old said he did not care that people may be writing him off.

But he also acknowledged the reality when asked if he needed to prove he should still get everyday at-bats, entering a season in which the Yankees have better lineup depth at their disposal.

“If you don’t produce, there’s going to be adjustments and ways, in any aspects, to make the lineup as optimal as possible,” he said. “So it’s my job to do that.”

Physical and mechanical adjustments were necessary after a season in which Stanton hit .191 with a .695 OPS — both career-lows — in 101 games. He missed six weeks early with a hamstring strain and never looked fully right upon returning, with his production falling off as the season went on.

Stanton’s history of lower-body issues led general manager Brian Cashman to say over the offseason, “He’s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game.” While Cashman’s next sentence was about Stanton being a “great hitter” when he’s healthy, the first part created a stir with Stanton’s agent, Joel Wolfe, coming to his defense with a statement that warned free agents about signing in New York.

“[Cashman] knows my reaction to that,” Stanton said Monday.

Stanton, who has four years left on his contract with $98 million owed to him by the Yankees, has communicated with Cashman since those remarks but said the two are OK now.

Coming off what he described as his “first fully healthy offseason in a long time,” the accountable Stanton knows he needs to translate that into results.

“I don’t get paid to be a standup guy or say the right things,” he said. “I’m here to produce and help us win a championship. That hasn’t happened and it needs to. The noise back and forth, whatever, it needs to be done. I don’t listen to noise. I understand the facts and that’s what hasn’t happened.”

Stanton said it was a “mutual” decision between him and the Yankees for him to play at a lighter weight and get leaner over the offseason — though manager Aaron Boone does not believe that the former MVP sacrificed any of his strength in the process.

“I think this [weight] is kind of where he should be playing at this point in his career,” Boone said. “I think it’s important to differentiate — G’s never been out of shape. I think he, we, everyone realized that it’s probably better — especially with some of the things that he’s dealt with from an injury standpoint and being north of 30 years old — to play at a lighter weight. I don’t think he’s compromised much in the way of strength. But hopefully, just as importantly, that agility, mobility will all be things that serve him well. I don’t necessarily see strength ever being a real issue for G.”