BABIP leaders and trailers so far

We know that BABIP for hitters is a combination of a whole bunch of things, but I just wanted to take a quick look at the polar ends of the category thus far in 2010:

Leaders:

1) Austin Jackson (.491)
2) Scott Podsednik (.422)
3) Michael Bourn (.420)
4) Franklin Gutierrez (.415)
5) Shin-Soo Choo (.415)
6) David Freese (.409)
7) Martin Prado (.408)
8) Evan Longoria (.407)
9) Carlos Gonzalez (.407)
10) Chase Headley (.403)

Trailers:

1) Travis Snider (.133)
2) Mark Teixeira (.145)
3) Carlos Quentin (.164)
4) Aramis Ramirez (.167)
5) A.J. Pierzynski (.182)
6) Nick Johnson (.200)
7) Paul Konerko (.204)
8) Garrett Jones (.207)
9) Lyle Overbay (.212)
10) Carlos Lee (.213)

Surprising? Not really. The leaders are mostly speedy outfielders and the trailers are mostly slow firstbaseman (if Austin Jackson finishes the year with a BABIP > .490, I will eat a Curtis Granderson jersey live online). However, for context, here are the top and bottom five from 2009:

Leaders:

1) David Wright (.394)
2) Ichiro Suzuki (.384)
3) Hanley Ramirez (.379)
4) Joe Mauer (.373)
5) Joey Votto (.372)

Trailers:

1) Ian Kinsler (.241)
2) Carlos Pena (.250)
3) Jimmy Rollins (.251)
4) Yuniesky Betancourt (.256)
5) Aubrey Huff (.260)

A little difference here, as some of the relatively quicker guys (Rollins, Betancourt) are sprinkled in at the bottom, whereas some of the relatively slower guys (Votto, Mauer) are at the top. Speed is definitely not the key component of a hitter’s BABIP, but in the small sample size thus far in 2010, it sure has been.