Arrieta will pitch if needed but prefers rest over All-Star break

SAN DIEGO – Jake Arrieta would just as soon enjoy a four-day rest during the All-Star break than pitch in the game, even if it is the Cub Cy Young winner’s first one.

He didn’t deserve to start, he said, and all things considered, the best thing for him – Arrieta has been off his Cy Young game for a while – is to sit back, relax and take in the festivities from the sidelines.

And to put his feet up.

“I wouldn’t mind taking four days off and then throwing two bullpens to get ready for my next start,’’ said Arrieta, who was considered to be a candidate to get the starting nod that went to San Francisco Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto. “That’s the direction I’m leaning. If they need an arm, though, and we can’t get enough innings I’ll be out there.’’

Arrieta (12-4, 2.68 ERA) said Cueto, 13-1 with a 2.47 ERA and 10 straight winning decisions since April 21, deserved the start.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a disappointment,’’ Arrieta said. “I’m realistic. My last three starts were poor. Cueto has been terrific. If take care of business the last three I probably start. [Mets manager Terry] Collins had a tough decision to make but he made a good one with Cueto.’’

Arrieta is not alone among the Cubs, who have seven suited All-Stars including their entire infield but aren’t exactly busting their buttons with pride on the national stage. They’ve lost 15 of their last 21 games, a remarkable skid for a team that roared to a 25-6 start.

“The biggest thing is, we needed a break,” said All-Star lefty Jon Lester (12-6, 3.01), roughed up for five runs over three innings by the Pirates and for eight runs over 1 1/3 innings by the Mets in his last two starts, a two-game thumping that annihilated a sparkling 2.03 ERA. “This break will be good for a lot of people.’’

As Arrieta catches his breath, he seems to be soaking in the moment of being here and reflecting on his rise from struggling right-hander to one of the game’s elite. During his media session at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Monday, he spoke of the All-Star honor as a Cy Young moment in the middle of the season.

“It kind of feels like I finally got to where I knew I was going,’’ he said. “Doesn’t mean the work is over, it means that things are starting to pay off and I can step back for a minute and enjoy it.

“It’s been a journey, man. I had to deal with a lot of stuff early in my career. I had to change mechanically four or five times and my mental approach and that’s tough to do at the big-league level. That’s why the journey has been so strange because I reinvented myself at the big-league level and not in A ball or AA where the spotlight isn’t near as great. You can make those adjustments without the pressure. At the end of the day i wouldn’t change it because without the struggles of 2012 and 13 I wouldn’t be here.’’

Perhaps the Cubs’ struggle will have some value in the last two and half months of the regular season.

“We’ll get back to it,’’ Lester said. “We have too good of a staff and too good of a defense to play where we’re at right now. We’ll be fine. The biggest thing is we all realized we weren’t going to keep that pace up all year. This game humbles you quickly.’’