The Boston Red Sox will put their starting pitching depth to the test right out of the gate, as Brayan Bello will begin the season on the IL.

Bello is working his way back from right shoulder inflammation that delayed his start this spring, and will not be ready for Opening Day, Boston manager Alex Cora announced Tuesday from Fort Myers, Florida. 

"He's behind, so he's not going to be with us for the Opening Day. Just doesn't make sense to push him and rush everything and then something major happens," Cora explained to reporters. "So he's throwing a live BP [Wednesday]. He's going to be part of it. But he's behind, so we'll take care of him."

Bello, who was Boston's Opening Day starter last season, will throw a bullpen session on Wednesday. He will likely make a start or two for Triple-A  Worcester to start the season, and might only miss a few turns through the Boston rotation. 

The Red Sox had been toying with a six-man rotation to start the season, but with Bello out of the mix and Kutter Crawford also out with a sore left knee, that idea has been scrapped. Boston will roll with a rotation of Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler, and Lucas Giolito for now, with the latter getting the fifth game of the season, Cora announced Tuesday. 

Candidates to take Bello's turn in the rotation include Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester, and Cooper Criswell. 

Bello, 25, went 14-8 with a 4.49 ERA for the Red Sox last season after he signed a six-year, $55 million contract in the spring.

Rafael Devers update

The Red Sox expect to have Rafael Devers in their Opening Day lineup, but his spring debut has been pushed back once again as he works to strengthen his shoulder. Devers played through multiple shoulder issues last season, and has spent the spring working to correct his swing in the aftermath of those injuries.

He was supposed to make his Grapefruit League debut on March 5, but it was pushed back to Wednesday. Now, Devers won't make his spring debut until Saturday. 

It's unclear where Devers will be playing when the Red Sox open the regular season against the Rangers in Texas on March 27, but he'll likely slot into Boston's DH spot while free-agent signing Alex Bregman occupies third base. While there was talk that Bregman would slide over to second base for the Red Sox, he has only played at third base this spring.