CLEVELAND -- The Guardians’ 2022 mantra is back: Let the kids play.

Last year, it was said with more confidence. Rookies like Steven Kwan and Oscar Gonzalez helped lead their team all the way to Game 5 of the American League Division Series. The kids found ways to grind out close victories, they kept fans (and opponents) on their toes and they created a never-say-die attitude that fueled the clubhouse. This year, it’s been more of a grind, there have been more growing pains and the results haven’t been as positive, which slightly alters the meaning of this motto.

Letting the kids play has become critical for the Guardians -- not just for immediate results, but in order to determine what’s best for the organization in the future. Now that the Guardians have openings on their roster due to trades and injuries, they’ve been able to give younger prospects like Brayan Rocchio and José Tena opportunities to showcase what they can do. Not only has it been a tremendously beneficial experience for both of them, but they were also a big reason why Cleveland walked away with a 4-3 victory over Toronto on Thursday at Progressive Field.

Things got dicey in the late innings. The Blue Jays scored two in the seventh against Enyel De Los Santos and then loaded the bases with one out against Trevor Stephan, who used 30 pitches to escape the jam, preserving a lead the rookies created. And the spark began with Tena’s first big league start of his career.

Tena, 22, had four innings of experience before Thursday, as he replaced José Ramírez after he was ejected in the sixth inning of Saturday’s game against the White Sox. Before that, Tena only had one game at Triple-A this season and five in 2022. But the Guardians' No. 18 prospect looked far from overwhelmed in his first at-bat on Thursday against Toronto righty Alek Manoah, serving a single up the middle to tie the game at 1 for his first MLB hit and RBI.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Tena said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero.

In the next at-bat, 22-year-old Rocchio followed Tena’s lead and knocked in the go-ahead run on a double to right-center field. In their next at-bats in the fifth, they hit back-to-back doubles, resulting in Rocchio knocking in Tena.

“This is the first step, obviously,” Tena said. “I mean, hopefully this is a big first learning of many more learnings and looking forward to playing many more years in the big leagues.”

Tena knows his time in the big leagues this season is limited. The Guardians were pretty transparent with the fact that he’ll be replacing Tyler Freeman on the roster until Freeman is healthy enough to be activated from the IL. That doesn’t mean that this isn’t still part of Cleveland’s long-term plan.

Games like this are why the Guardians needed to part ways with shortstop Amed Rosario at the Trade Deadline. They knew the soon-to-be free agent wasn’t going to be on this team next season, so it was critical that Cleveland got a jump-start at evaluating its young middle-infield talent for 2024 before ‘23 came to a close. Trading Rosario and Josh Bell cleared space for players like Freeman, Gabriel Arias, Rocchio and now Tena to get time at shortstop and other positions.

It’s expected that Freeman and Arias will still get most of the opportunities, as they have the most experience. Both had been ranked among the best prospects in Cleveland’s farm system the last few years by MLB Pipeline and both are still trying to show they can be the players they were in the Minors.

With little Triple-A experience, it’s likely Tena will still need more time before he’s the next man up. That leaves Rocchio, who will continue to get thrown into the mix, especially on days the club wants to move Arias to first (and Rocchio plays shortstop) or give Ramírez a breather at DH (and Rocchio plays third). Although Arias and Freeman may have more experience, that doesn’t mean that Rocchio, the Guardians' No. 4 prospect, isn’t getting just as much of a look as the others.

“Really live body,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said of Rocchio. “Looks like from both sides of the plate, he’s going to be able to handle himself pretty well. It’ll be interesting to see as he gains experience -- and I don’t even just mean [in the big leagues], I mean just playing because he’s so young -- where it goes, because he kind of has all the tools.”

Regardless of who plays when or where, the Guardians seem to be leaning into that same old slogan: Let the kids play.