PHOENIX -- Kyle Muller and Shea Langeliers used to visualize how it would be for them in the big leagues together back when they were top prospects with the Braves -- one dominating on the mound, the other igniting the offense with the bat. Now that they are reunited with the A’s, that vision is close to fruition.

Working together as a starting battery for the first time this spring on Sunday, the duo shined in Oakland’s 11-4 win over the Brewers at American Family Fields. Muller worked two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out four batters. Langeliers finished a triple shy of the cycle with three hits in three at-bats, including a booming solo shot to right-center in the third.

“It was just like old times,” Langeliers said. “Since we came up together with the Braves, it’s really easy for us to get on the same page. Once we find that flow, we just like to stay in it.”

Rated Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect at the time he was traded to the A’s as part of the five-player return for Sean Murphy in December, Muller is vying for a rotation spot and his Spring Training performance will come into play when determining whether he breaks camp with the club.

For a first look in front of Oakland’s staff, Muller certainly looked as advertised. The left-hander was consistently in the zone with strikes on 27 of his 40 pitches. His fastball sat at 93-94 mph, and he generated plenty of swing-and-miss, including four whiffs with a power slider he revamped this offseason to add more horizontal break. It’s a tweak he believes will make the pitch more effective against right-handed hitters, and that appeared evident in the second inning when he used it as the putaway pitch on his strikeout of former A’s outfielder Skye Bolt.

“He used to be just all about throwing as hard as he could all the time,” Langeliers said of Muller. “The older we’ve gotten, he’s turned more and more into a pitcher. His pitchability has gone through the roof. He’s really learned how to pitch.”

With the stacked rotation Atlanta has formed over the past few years, Muller never really got an extended chance to stick over his several previous calls to the Majors. From 2021-22, he posted a 5.14 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) for the Braves, though most of his time last season came at Triple-A Gwinnett, where he racked up 159 strikeouts in 134 2/3 innings with a 3.41 ERA.

In Oakland, that pathway to establishing himself as a big leaguer might be a little more open, especially if he can build upon Sunday’s impressive Cactus League debut.

“I’m used to competing for spots in Atlanta,” Muller said. “It’s not anything new to me. If I do get the opportunity to go play in Oakland, hopefully I just get comfortable, get on a five-day routine and make a couple of starts to make that a comfortable setting. 

“My thing is, every year, the first time I go up [to the Major Leagues] might be a little rocky. But once I get it going, we’re locked in. I’m just trying to get that chance in the Major Leagues and run with it.”

It didn’t seem like there was much rust to shake off for Langeliers, who was also making his Cactus League debut. His three-hit effort included an RBI double in the first inning and a single in the fourth as he completed five innings.

Now entrenched as the everyday starting catcher following Murphy’s departure, Langeliers will get a chance to translate the tools that made him one of the top prospects in baseball at the time of his call to Oakland in 2022. 

“We wanted to see the approach that he had at the end of [last] season,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said of Langeliers. “That right-center homer shows that he brought what he was working on from the end of the year. That’s where he needs to stay.”