PEORIA, Ariz. — Walker Buehler showed a lot of encouraging attributes in his first Cactus League appearance.

But the most promising news Thursday was not that the Padres’ prospective fifth starter adeptly mixed seven pitches, including a revised sweeper and slider, as he struck out four, allowed two hits and walked a batter over three innings against the Seattle Mariners.

It was that he pronounced himself pain-free for the first time in a long time.

“About four weeks ago, my elbow just stopped hurting, and so that’s a new one for me,” Buehler said. “Things have kind of ticked up from there.”

Buehler, in camp on a minor-league contract attempting to earn what is almost certainly just one available spot in the starting rotation, is 3½ years removed from his second Tommy John surgery.

One of the top pitchers in the major leagues from 2018 through ‘21, he has struggled since his return.

No one expects he will be throwing in the high 90s, as he did while being dominant through much of his first four full big-league seasons.

But there is the hope that another year removed from surgery and a few tweaks will allow him to return to being a consistently effective pitcher.

“Feeling healthy and feeling like I can go and execute and go get people out, as opposed to trying to get them to get themselves out, I think is a big mentality switch for me,” Buehler said. “A lot of that is just feeling healthy and feeling like myself.”

After missing the 2023 season, he returned in 2024 to make 16 starts for the Dodgers in the regular season and another three (plus a perfect ninth inning in relief in the World Series clincher). He signed with the Boston Red Sox that offseason, was released in August and finished 2025 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 42 games (40 starts) over the past two seasons, Buehler’s velocity is down significantly, his command has been sporadic and his ERA has been bloated (5.10).

During what he has said was his best offseason in a while and now that he is working with Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla, the focus has been on a revision in Buehler’s mechanics. Among the changes is that he has raised his arm angle closer to what it was pre-surgery.

“Trying to get some rhythm back in the delivery,” he said after throwing 47 pitches (31 strikes) on Thursday. “I think in years past, I just was kind of stuck in this rehab-ish throw and have had a really tough time getting out of it. I had a really good offseason, and I’ve had a really good spring training in terms of kind of talking through the delivery and getting my arm back up to the height that I want it to be. … I don’t think you can force that kind of stuff. I think the delivery has to do it, and I feel good with where that all is right now. So now we’re kind of refining and hoping to get a few miles an hour out of it.”

Buehler bumped up against 95 mph with one fastball and averaged 92.4 mph on the 12 four-seamers he threw Thursday. That is down from last year’s average of 94, and the days of 96 and 97 are long gone.

“The velocity is a little under where we want to be,” he said. “But we’ve got a few weeks to kind of get that ironed out.”

The sweeper, which he and Niebla revised this week, is making something of a comeback. He used it just under 7% of the time last season, down from a high of 14% in 2021.

“I haven’t quite had the elbow to do it until recently,” Buehler said of the super-spinny offering.

He appears to have the elbow now, even if he doesn’t know how.

“I’ve tried every treatment and supplement and vitamin you can,” he said. “And luckily I have some people out here that I work with — and I’ve worked with for a lot of years — and something got rid of it. And it hasn’t come back. I’m a little scared. I don’t know exactly what did it that fixed it. I hope if it hurts again we get lucky again.”