TORONTO -- There’s no place like home, and for James Paxton, Toronto is close. Even though Toronto is nowhere near the Yankees left-hander’s hometown in Ladner, British Columbia, and Paxton currently calls Wisconsin his offseason home, every chance to pitch at Rogers Centre is a chance for Canucks to see

TORONTO -- There’s no place like home, and for James Paxton, Toronto is close.

Even though Toronto is nowhere near the Yankees left-hander’s hometown in Ladner, British Columbia, and Paxton currently calls Wisconsin his offseason home, every chance to pitch at Rogers Centre is a chance for Canucks to see one of the few Canadians in the game on home soil.

Paxton returned to the mound in Toronto with New York on Wednesday, after no-hitting the Blue Jays in his last outing at Rogers Centre as a member of the Mariners on May 8, 2018. But his proudest moments playing baseball in Canada came before he ever entered the professional realm, with the Canadian Junior National Team.

“Playing for Team Canada when I was in high school was really cool, to represent my country when I was 16, 17,” he said. “That was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed that. That was probably my proudest moment as a young player, being able to wear the Canada jersey, representing Canada in a few different tournaments. That was pretty special.”

Though Paxton hasn’t represented his home country since entering professional ball, those moments have stuck with the 30-year-old southpaw as he continues to represent Canada each and every day with whatever team he’s playing for.

“It’s the competitive spirit,” he said. “Canadian players are really proud to be Canadian players. There are not many of us, and for me, I’ve always just tried to focus on representing Canada the right way, on the field and off it, and I’ve always tried to do my best with that.”

One of only nine Canucks to have suited up in the Major Leagues this year, Paxton not only takes pride in what his own team is doing, but also in what some of his countrymen around the Majors have accomplished as well.

“I’ll check on a few guys to see how they’re doing,” Paxton said. “I’ve heard a lot about [rookie right-hander Mike] Soroka in Atlanta, he’s having a fantastic season. He’s a young player and I’m really happy for him. It’s awesome to see Canadian players doing so well.

“Joey Votto’s been doing it for a long time, he’s been a fantastic player for a long time and it’s really cool to see what he’s done. And Tyler O’Neill with St. Louis, I believe he’s doing pretty well this season as well. It’s really cool to see the Canadian players having success at the big league level.”

Alexis Brudnicki is a Canada-based Baseball Development and Special Projects reporter for MLB.com. Follow her on Twitter @baseballexis.