SEATTLE—It isn’t hard to figure out where James Paxton got his nickname: The Big Maple.

The six-foot-four, 235-pound left-hander from Ladner, B.C., has a large tattoo of — what else? — a maple leaf on his right forearm.

The moniker has caught on with fans as the Canuck navigates a breakout season with the Seattle Mariners, though Paxton said it isn’t a thing in the clubhouse just yet.

“I kind of brought it on myself, didn’t I?” Paxton said with a laugh on Saturday afternoon, a day before he takes the mound in the finale of a three-game series against the Blue Jays at Safeco Field.

It will be a uniquely Canadian day, with Paxton on the mound against his home country’s only major-league team, in front of a crowd packed with fans from north of the border.

If things had played out differently, Paxton could have been on the mound in Blue Jays’ royal blue instead of Mariners’ navy. The Jays drafted him 37th overall in the 2009.

He was the only player picked in the top 100 who didn’t sign.

Instead, he returned to the University of Kentucky, only to be ruled ineligible by the NCAA after then Jays president Paul Beeston told reporters that negotiations with the prospect collapsed because he had to deal with agent Scott Boras — who now represent Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez — rather than directly with Paxton’s family.

Using an agent as an adviser is okay under NCAA rules, but allowing one to negotiate a contract is a violation that costs a player his eligibility. Paxton was forced to play independent ball until the 2010 draft, where he went 132nd overall to the Mariners.

The lefty says he still had fond memories of being taken by the Jays, despite the way it turned out: “It was a special time, very exciting. The draft was a big deal. It’s a big moment in players’ lives when they’re going through that. It was pretty special.”

Paxton is 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA in a breakout campaign despite missing nearly a month with left forearm tightness. He’s pitched twice since returning from the disabled list.

Those numbers don’t surprise Jays manager John Gibbons. Paxton has pitched against Toronto just three times in his career, all at the Rogers Centre. He flopped in the first one, allowing nine runs in 2 2/3 innings, his shortest outing of the year. But in the other two starts, he allowed just three runs and seven hits over 13 innings.

Paxton owns one of the best arms in baseball, in Gibbons’ books, and regrets that he got away.

“We’d like to have him, but we don’t,” the manager said.

Paxton, with stats on pace for Cy Young Award consideration if he can stay healthy, is looking forward to getting out on the mound against Toronto at home, even if the crowd might make it feel like a road game.

“It makes it a lot of fun,” said Paxton. “I was talking to (teammate Jarrod) Dyson yesterday. He’s been in the post-season (with the Royals). He said it’s kind of a post-season atmosphere out there, a lot of energy, and I love that. I love all the energy. It’s a lot of fun. We have a good time with all the fans out there.”

He expects a battle against the Jays, who will start lefty J.A. Happ. Both teams have been hit hard by injuries to the starting rotation this season and are hovering around the .500 mark after expecting better.

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“It’s tough, but the guys that have come up have done a great job,” he said. “I’m trying to be as supportive as possible of them, and talk to them about their games and what they’re doing, and they’ve done great. We’ve held on really well. Our offence has been really great lately, so we’re hanging in there.

“I think once we get our regular guys back we can definitely make a push toward the last little bit of the season here.”