WASHINGTON — Cam Schlittler had a case to start the All-Star Game. Instead, he won’t pitch in Tuesday’s exhibition at all.

The New YoYankees’ emerging ace is healthy, Aaron Boone said Sunday morning. However, the manager said that Schlittler, who allowed two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings and 99 pitches against the Washington Nationals on Saturday, had some concerns about pitching with intensity on what would otherwise be a between-start throw day.

“He came in today, talked to me about it, made that decision,” Boone said before the Yankees finished the first half with a 5-3, series-sweeping win over the Nationals on Sunday. “Just feels like, on his recovery day, to go back out there throwing 100 mph is something that he felt a little apprehensive about. So I certainly support that decision, and obviously, he understands what’s at stake here in the second half for us and for him. I’m certainly supportive of his decision.”

Boone spoke at Nationals Park before Toronto Blue Jays skipper John Schneider, who is managing the American League in the All-Star Game, spoke to reporters in San Diego on Sunday. According to The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon, Schneider picked Toronto’s Dylan Cease to start on Saturday night.

“If Cam was going to pitch, my decision was still going to be Dylan,” Schneider said.

With an American League-leading 2.05 ERA, Schlittler was seen as the favorite to start for the Junior Circuit. Cease had even said that Schlittler “earned” the right earlier this week.

Cease has a 2.56 ERA, but his 3.7 fWAR is better than Schlittler’s 3.5. Cease also leads in xERA, FIP, xFIP, K% and opponent batting average, while Schlittler has Cease beat in wins, BB%, WHIP, innings and starts.

MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson reported that Schneider informed MLB of his decision last night, and that he and Boone spoke Sunday morning. However, it wasn’t clear if that conversation took place before or after Boone spoke to reporters at 11:30 a.m. ET.

A league spokesperson declined to comment when the New York Daily News asked if and when the Yankees informed MLB that Schlittler would not pitch in the All-Star Game.

Boone spoke as if he was unaware of Schneider’s decision at the time of his pregame media availability, stating that he wanted to make sure that Schlittler had given his decision not to pitch serious thought considering he was a theoretical option to start.

“And he has,” Boone continued before adding, “there’s nothing wrong with him. He feels good. He feels normal today post-outing. But I just wanted him to be thoughtful in how he came to that decision, and certainly, we support him wholeheartedly.”

Boone also said that he thought Schlittler’s choice “could have gone either way.” On Saturday, the 25-year-old first-time All-Star seemed to be on the fence about pitching in the Midsummer Classic.

“We’ll see what happens in the next day or two, and if I’m comfortable doing that, then I’ll do that,” the righty said.

With the Yankees on a three-game winning streak after losing 15 of their previous 20, Schlittler went on to say, “Not gonna lie, I’m not too worried about [pitching in the All-Star Game]. I got more things to worry about in terms of just this team and how we’ve been playing, and I like how it’s been the last couple days.”

While Boone said that Schlittler is fine physically, the Yankees are surely happy that he’s taking an opportunity to rest his prized arm. He is coming off a career-high workload after throwing 149.2 innings between the majors and minors last year, and he’s already at 118 2/3 innings this season.

Elsewhere in the Yankees’ rotation, Will Warren, Sunday’s starter, is also coming off a career-high workload; Ryan Weathers has already surpassed his innings count from a season ago; and Gerrit Cole is just nine major league starts removed from Tommy John surgery. The unit is also missing Carlos Rodón (elbow inflammation) and Max Fried (elbow bone bruise), so the depth-lacking Yankees can’t afford another rotation injury right now.

Boone said that Max Fried’s live batting practice session at Double-A went well on Saturday, and that his next step is “likely” a rehab game, possibly as soon as Friday. Rodón, meanwhile, has had a few good days of throwing in Tampa. He won’t throw Sunday but will just about every day over the break. That could include a bullpen session.

While those lefties spend their break rehabbing, Schlittler is still going to travel to Philadelphia for All-Star festivities this coming week. He has volunteered to be Ben Rice’s “Gatorade guy” in Monday’s Home Run Derby, and his parents, siblings, grandma and uncle are attending the annual gathering of baseball’s top talent.

After that, Schlittler is lined up to pitch the Yankees’ first game of the second half, a highly-anticipated Friday night matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Bronx.

Boone wasn’t ready to disclose the Yankees’ post-break rotation plans yet, but Schlittler is looking forward to a chance to battle the reigning champs.

“I haven’t faced them yet,” he said recently. “Obviously, they’re legit. They’re a top-three team in baseball. That’s after All-Star break, so when we get there, we’ll get there, but if I get the opportunity to throw that series, it should be a lot of fun.”

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