TORONTO —

With John Gibbons’ endorsement of keeping Marcus Stroman in the rotation, sanity appears to be gripping the minds of the deep thinkers in Blue Jays land.

Gibbons went all-in Friday on the prospect of Stroman moving into the rotation if and when he returns from a couple of rehab assignments in the coming weeks.

Stroman breezed through a 51-pitch simulated game in Dunedin yesterday with a rehab assignment at class-A Lansing next Wednesday next on the list. If everything goes well in Lansing, next up is a start with triple-A Buffalo on Sept. 7.

Then it’s on to the Jays where the fans will be dancing in the streets.

“If anybody can do it it’s him,” Gibbons said of Stroman’s return. “I don’t think I’d put anything past him.”

Stroman has missed the entire season thanks to a freakish knee injury he suffered during fielding practise at the beginning of spring training.

In the past few weeks the word from either Gibbons or GM Alex Anthopoulos was to wait and see, that a return by Stroman was an iffy proposition and that if he makes it back they may have him pitch out of the bullpen.

Gibbons, in his pre-game chat with reporters last night, though, was adamant that a Stroman return would have him back as part of the rotation. What hasn’t been determined is whether the Jays would go with a six-man rotation, have him spot start on occasion or move one of the current members of the rotation into a lesser role.

“The way it’s going now he might come up and start for us, get a start or two and see how he’s doing,” Gibbons said. “I didn’t think he’d be back period, then when it looked like he would be back I thought he’d probably come out of the ’pen.

“He threw a simulated game today, pitching a real game next Wednesday in Lansing and (then Sept. 7) in Buffalo so ... I mean if things go well, he’d come up here and start I would think.”

As for how it all plays out, Gibbons doesn’t have a master plan just yet.

“He might give everybody else a breather but if Stro comes back and he’s really good, he could turn some things upside down, I would say,” Gibbons added.

The Jays haven’t won a thing yet but are in a good position to end their lengthy playoff draught either as winners of the East Division or as a wild-card team. If Stroman returns, is part of the rotation and pitches well, it would be a definite shot in the arm for a team that is already awash in confidence.

“It’s pretty cool that there’s even thoughts that he’s going to make it back, but he’s doing it,” Gibbons went on. “If he comes back and his knee is healthy, his arm was never an issue and everyone knows how good his arm is and what kind of pitcher he is, he might end up being a difference-maker down the stretch when we need it.”

How big a shot in the arm would that be?