The Boston Red Sox made perhaps the biggest trade of the offseason, acquiring Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox. This deal gave them the ace they desperately needed to lead their rotation, but it was important to note at the time that Crochet only came with a couple of years of club control.

The Red Sox made sure to rectify that immediately by signing him to a massive six-year extension, ensuring he’ll be in Boston for many years to come. Shortly after signing the extension, the southpaw made his home debut with the Red Sox.

The final results were underwhelming. Crochet wound up allowing four runs in 5.2 innings of work in a 6-1 loss against the Toronto Blue Jays. Notably, the strikeout artist had just five strikeouts compared to four walks.

When asked about his outing after the game, Crochet wasn’t shy when it came to ripping his performance.

“Terrible,” Crochet said, h/t MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “There really hasn’t been a start this year where I feel like I’ve had my best stuff. Hopefully that’s because I’m building and they’re all going to come later in the year. But just not getting to the glove side very well with the four-seam or the cutter, a lot of over-correcting with the two and just yanking and not really driving it there.”

Crochet was nothing but blunt. His attitude will resonate with the diehards in Boston, and shows he is a perfect fit to lead this Red Sox rotation for years to come.

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Garrett Crochet endears himself to Red Sox fans with blunt postgame comments

If Tuesday was a “terrible” version of Crochet, Red Sox fans will be thrilled by what the southpaw will do in Beantown for the better part of the next decade.

While he certainly wasn’t dominant, there are a couple of factors to keep in mind. First, while Crochet allowed four runs, only one of them was earned. With two out and nobody on in the sixth inning after Crochet had allowed a home run earlier in the frame, Alex Bregman committed a throwing error, giving the Blue Jays a base runner and an extra life. Now, Crochet is at fault for not shutting the inning down after the error, but the inning should’ve been over if his defense came through.

Second, Crochet was dealing with brutal conditions. The 35-degree weather he was pitching in was the third-coldest in a home game in Red Sox history. It’s good that he didn’t use the weather as an excuse, but the weather undoubtedly played a role in his stuff being less sharp than he would’ve liked. It’s very hard for pitchers to get the most out of their stuff in blistering cold weather. Even despite that, he held the Jays off the board entirely through the first five innings and had Bregman made the play in the field referenced above, he would’ve had a quality start.

Crochet being this upset about a start that all things considered was fine, is an excellent sign for Red Sox fans. He expects nothing but dominance, and isn’t unwilling to call himself out if he doesn’t deliver that.