Zach Wilt: Early returns on De Aza as leadoff hitter are promising

The 1972 Dolphins can breathe easy. The Orioles aren't going 162-0. A 161-1 record still is a possibility, however.

In case you are curious, that would be a .994 winning percentage. After three games, the O's are on pace to finish 108-54 and, as you'd expect, that would win the American League East. Travis Snider is on pace for 216 hits, while Steve Pearce will lead the club (and likely the majors) with 108 home runs.

Aren't small sample sizes fun?

Our beloved Birds wrapped up the first 1.8 percent of the 2015 season with a series win in Tropicana Field against the Rays. They've got an off-day on Thursday, which is the perfect opportunity for some over-analysis, before the highly anticipated home opener on Friday afternoon at Camden Yards.

Of all the over-analysis I've done after watching the 27 innings of Orioles baseball so far, I've found myself most impressed with the performance of Alejandro De Aza in the leadoff spot. One of my biggest concerns about losing Nick Markakis was the Orioles' ability to replace his production atop the lineup. He seemed the really thrive in that role, slashing .274/.339/.379 in 681 plate appearances over 148 games last season.

Well, it's been just three games, but the early returns on De Aza in that spot look promising. Most people will remember De Aza's two-run homer on opening day and point to that as evidence of his nice start to the 2015 season.

While the homer was impressive, I was actually more excited seeing the build-up that led to the eventual longball. De Aza saw 10 pitches in that at-bat and he fouled off six of them before finally putting an 86 mph changeup into the stands in right-center. That's what I'm looking for in a leadoff hitter. Patience at the plate and an ability to make the starter work is exactly what teams need in the one-hole. Not only does it increase the workload for the opposing starter, but it allows the rest of the lineup to see the pitcher's arsenal before ever even stepping into the box.

De Aza saw 31 pitches on Monday, 10 more than any other Orioles hitter. He also led the O's in pitches seen on Tuesday (25) and last night (24).

While the Orioles bats stayed mostly silent against Jake Odorizzi in yesterday's finale against the Rays, De Aza picked up two of the Birds' three hits. He singled to right field in the top of the sixth in an eight-pitch at-bat and led off the ninth with a slap single against the shift off Brad Boxberger. Pearce, Snider and Adam Jones all eventually struck out behind De Aza, but the O's leadoff man did exactly what the team needed to spark that would-be late-inning comeback. He worked the count, found a hole, put the ball there and got on base.

With so much power on the roster and the potential to score at any time, it's important to have a setup man that can add to that damage. Not every player needs to be looking to hit the ball 450 feet; some of them need to just simply get on base and allow the power bats to do their thing. In the first three games of the season, De Aza has shown an ability to do exactly that.

So how's that for some off-day over-analysis? Try to enjoy 24 hours without Orioles baseball - I know, it's tough. See you at the Yard on Friday.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zamwi. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.