Yankees vs. Athletics Thursday MLB injury report, odds: Giancarlo Stanton set to return for New York

What a difference a few days can make. Entering Sunday, the New York Yankees were in utter turmoil and looking at perhaps getting swept at home in a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. However, the Yanks won that game, then swept two at home vs. the Mets. Now things are really looking up as former NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton will return from injury tonight with New York set to open a four-game series at Oakland as a -210 favorite at Caesars Sportsbook.

Stanton was hitting .228 with 24 homers, 61 RBI and an .807 OPS when he went on the injured list July 26, retroactive to July 24, with tendinitis in his left Achilles tendon. Stanton provides protection in the lineup for AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge – and remember, Stanton has yet to play with trade acquisition Andrew Benintendi, who suddenly has gotten hot.

Since the start of June, 56 percent of Stanton's hits have been home runs (13 of 23), and he was walking 13.1 percent of the time while batting only .167 -- although that lack of contact may have been partially due to the tendinitis. In the 80 games Stanton has played this year, the Yanks are 51-29 with a team slugging percentage of .438. They are 25-19 without him and have a team slugging of .416.

Even with the three-game winning streak, all by 4-2 scores, the Yankees are 7-14 in August and are averaging 3.33 runs per game. New York has been held to four or fewer runs in 13 of its past 15.

Stanton is 1-for-4 career with a solo homer off Oakland starter James Kaprielian (3-7, 4.29 ERA), who was the Yankees' first-round draft pick in 2015 but pitched in just eight games in the team's farm system due to elbow problems that eventually led to Tommy John surgery. Kaprielian is 1-0 with a 7.59 ERA in two career appearance vs. New York, both last year. There are no props posted yet on Stanton tonight as the books need to be sure he's playing first.

Jameson Taillon (11-4, 4.00) gets the call for the Yankees. He beat the visiting A's on June 29, allowing three runs over five innings. Taillon hasn't been great this month with a 5.32 ERA. 

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