After a 3-game series against the Yankees where Willians Astudillo did not record a strikeout in 10 at-bats, the Yankees officially protested the game on September 12th. Manager Joe Girardi, and pitcher David Robertson, contended that the strike zone should be wider for a batter of Astudillo's girth. Seemingly, David Robertson was frustrated that he allowed his first earned runs since July, and couldn't figure out how strike out Astudillo in a key situation.

"The strike zone is normally only 17 inches wide. Are you trying to tell me that someone as wide as that guy should have the same strike zone width? We adjust the height of the strike zone for each batter, so this just doesn't make any sense."

After the game, Major League Baseball's Executive VP of Baseball Operations, Richard Alderson, released the following statement:

"Major League Baseball, and the office of Baseball Operations, has denied the formal protest by the Yankees on September 12th. MLB Rule 2.00 states that 'The STRIKE ZONE is that area over home plate...' and is not dependent on the torso width, or fluffiness, of a given batter. Major League Baseball does not discriminate against certain players, including those who are more corpulent than others."

MLB pitchers will need to find another way to get Astudillo out, who has only 2 strikeouts and 0 walks in 48 MLB plate appearances, and only 85 walks (9 intentional) in 2462 minor league plate appearances. Astudillo currently leads all of Major League Baseball with a #DIV/0 strikeout-to-walk ratio.