Patrick Corbin, the prized starting pitcher in free agency, ended up with the Nationals, while the Yankees chose to spend their offseason spreading their money around at numerous targets primarily in their rotation, bullpen and infield.

The November trade for James Paxton from Seattle was a significant part of that strategy and the 30-year-old lefty gets his first chance on showing what kind of an impact he can make when he makes his debut for the Yankees on Saturday against the Orioles.

“I’m excited, nervous, all of it,’’ Paxton said Thursday at Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees opened their season with a win over Baltimore. “I get that every year. We had expectations in Seattle, but here, it seems there are more of them. We’re all prepared and ready to go. We know what we’re trying to accomplish here and that’s getting a ring.’’

In parts of six seasons with the Mariners, Paxton never made the postseason, and he hardly ever went through a season without some physical issue.

Paxton has spent time on the injured list at least once each season since 2014, but he’s increased his workload each of the last three seasons. And while his 28 starts and 160 1/3 innings were both career highs last season, he dealt with lower back and pectoral issues. He was acquired from Seattle for a package highlighted by left-hander Justus Sheffield. Although Sheffield has opened the season in the minors, he’s expected to crack the Mariners’ rotation at some point this season.

In an attempt to make it through an entire season in one piece, Paxton said he began working with a nutritionist at his gym.

“I met with him and he told me about the importance of vitamins and just watching what I ate,’’ Paxton said. “The focus was really on recovery and bouncing back between starts. He said nutrition can help. I’ve always known it was important, but you really are what you eat.’’

He said the changes have helped him recover from both workouts and games faster.

“I feel I’m stronger than ever and I’m more able to maintain my stuff from start to start,’’ Paxton said.

His results in spring training were encouraging. After pitching poorly during the spring in three of the previous four years, Paxton was solid in five Grapefruit League outings with the Yankees.

That will hardly matter if he’s not able to continue that into the regular season, but his first test will come against a Baltimore team that looked as bad as advertised in Thursday’s opener in the Bronx.

Saturday will mark just Paxton’s second career outing at Yankee Stadium, where he got hit hard in the first inning of a start last season on June 21. Aaron Judge and Miguel Andujar both took him deep in a four-run first before Paxton followed with four scoreless innings in a loss.

“I’m confident I pitched here and it was definitely good that I came in and had a good spring,’’ Paxton said. “I had velocity and my pitches were working well. My breaking stuff and fastball command both got better as the spring went on and I was able to accomplish everything I wanted to. That gives me confidence coming in that I was ready to go.”

And just as important, he said, “my body feels great and I’m healthy. I just want to keep it that way.’’