LAKELAND, Fla. >> The Tigers are a much better baseball team when Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling are in the lineup. That’s an unassailable truth. They were 26 games over .500 last year when Meadows played (54-28) and 12 games over .500 when Vierling played (78-66).

Here’s another unassailable truth: Neither will be in the starting lineup for at least the first 10 days of the season. Both will start the year on the 10-day injured list — Meadows with a nerve issue in his upper right arm and Vierling with a rotator cuff strain in his right shoulder.

“It definitely sucks,” Tigers’ All-Star outfielder Riley Greene said. “They are a big part of our team. But the season doesn’t stop. We have to figure out how to win games when they’re not out there and we hope they heal up soon and get back to us as quick as possible.

“But we still have to play baseball and figure out ways to win.”

There are no firm timetables for when Meadows and Vierling will return. Both are progressing steadily through their rehabs and increasing their baseball activity. Neither, though, have restarted their throwing programs.

They are mandated to be out at least the first 10 days of the season. Missing two weeks seems optimistic. Missing three weeks seems more likely. And the first three weeks of the Tigers’ schedule will be a tester:

They open with three games in Los Angeles against the defending World Series champion Dodgers and then play three in Seattle. They open the home schedule with three against the White Sox and three against the Yankees. Then back on the road to Minnesota and Milwaukee.

It would be a daunting entry into the season even with a fully healthy roster. Greene was asked if he and others needed to resist the temptation to try to do too much to compensate for the absence of Meadows and Vierling.

“I feel like we all do,” he said. “They are two guys that are pretty big in our lineup, and we’d love to see them in there every day. But we know we all have to step back and trust each other. Just have trust in your teammates and try to win games.”

It’s a credit to the internal commitment to the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” philosophy and to the residual benefits of the 31-13 run into the playoffs last year that the Tigers are treating these injuries as an inconvenience and not a crisis.

“The message I sent was this,” manager AJ Hinch said. “We proved to ourselves last year that we’re going to need everybody to contribute and not just be based on one guy or two guys in the middle of our lineup. I think that experience alone is better than my words or anything anyone is telling them.”

Hinch understands it is human nature for the offensive leaders on the team, players like Greene and Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith, to try to carry a heavier load with key players out of the lineup.

“We need Riley to be a good player just like we need everybody else to be a good player,” Hinch said. “It’s not up to him to carry any more performance than what is already bestowed upon him as one of our best players. Easier said than done sometimes, especially for young players.

“But he’s got a great feel for how to get himself ready, how to prepare to bat, whatever second, third, fourth in our lineup — and trust that we’re going to find the matchups and find ways to offset the loss of a couple of our key guys.”

That was certainly the key last season. The Tigers have constructed a roster of versatile moving pieces with specific strengths that allows Hinch to hunt and exploit matchups throughout the game.

And as we sit here, nine days away from the opener, Hinch is going to be able to use third base, center field and right field, plus the designated hitter spot, to mix and match players as that game’s opponent dictates.

Right-handed hitting Andy Ibanez and lefty-hitting Zack McKinstry will share third base, along with, occasionally, shortstop Javier Báez. And Hinch even left open the possibility of president Scott Harris adding a player from outside the organization.

“We will see if anyone else factors in,” he said. “But there will be multiple people playing there depending on matchups.”

Switch-hitting Wenceel Perez is expected to start in center, but he can move to either corner outfield spot. Lefty-swinging Greene will start in left but will play center when situations dictate.

The lefty-swinging Carpenter will toggle between right field and designated hitter. McKinstry can play corner outfield.

And depending on who makes the roster, right-handed hitters Spencer Torkelson, Ryan Kreidler, Justyn-Henry Malloy and Jahmai Jones all give Hinch options at multiple positions.

“The one thing Riley knows and our team knows, we’re not going to disrespect the guys who are taking over for Vierling and Meadows,” Hinch said. “They’re our teammates. We expect them to be here and they expect to be here. No one is beneath this level or thinks they shouldn’t be here.

“It is important for our players to develop that trust so we’re not looking down on part of the roster because they are filling out the lineup. Because that would be total bulls—.”