CHICAGO — For two days, Marcus Stroman existed in a sort of limbo, staying away physically from his new team as he packed his many belongings in Toronto and wasn’t exactly sure what sort of group he’d be joining.

Then came Wednesday, and Stroman threw on a Mets uniform for the first time. And to his delight, no one else removed his Mets uniform as the trade deadline passed.

“I was praying we didn’t trade any of those guys that were being rumored about, [Zack] Wheeler and [Noah] Syndergaard,” Stroman said Wednesday, after the deadline and before the Mets continued their series with the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field (worst ballpark name ever). “Because I actually think we can have the best staff in all of baseball.”

Stroman, who last pitched for the Blue Jays on July 24, threw an extended bullpen session Wednesday and will make his Mets debut Saturday night in Pittsburgh.

“It’s tough,” he said of the unusually long layoff. “But it’ll be good. I’m not worried about it. I go out there and I compete at the highest level each and every time. I’ll be able to manage. … I’ll be ready to go Saturday.”

He debuted his uniform number 7, a minor switch from the 6 he wore for the bulk of his Blue Jays career. The most famous Met to wear No. 7 is arguably Jose Reyes.

“[Jeff] McNeil’s got 6,” Stroman said. “I thought it would be a good kind of change, kind of go back to my Duke days. Reyes is my guy, too. Jose Reyes, obviously I played with him on the Blue Jays. He’s one of my guys from the very start of it. We keep in contact from all of these past years so he was pretty excited about it.”

Stroman called Mets ace Jacob deGrom “the best pitcher in baseball,” and he spoke of reuniting with Steven Matz, his Long Island childhood contemporary, rival and friend. The two pitchers chatted on the field during early batting practice.