Batting average can be a deceptive figure sometimes. Guys like Tony Gwynn always hit for a very high average but didn’t drive in as many runs as you might think. But average is still a great indicator of a player’s offensive skills, and some hitters have both home run power and the ability to spray base hits all over the field as well. Here, we take a look at the Top 10 active batting average leaders in Major League Baseball today:

1. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (.332)—Okay, so Albert might look like he has a little too much air in the tires, if you know what I mean. But chemical enhancement of any kind isn’t really going to make you hit for a higher average. You have to have natural talent for that, and Albert just oozes it. It’s amazing to think he’s only 28 years old too.

2. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (.331)—Ichiro came over from Japan in 2001 and won the AL MVP AND Rookie of the Year honors as a 27-year-old MLB rookie. And he really hasn’t stopped hitting since then.

3. Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies (329)—Helton has played his whole career in Colorado (since 1997), which means he has had roughly 800 at-bats in the thin air of Coors Field. But thin air isn’t going to help your batting average, so clearly this dude can see the ball and hit the ball as well as anyone in the game today.

4. Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels (.322)—Thankfully we’re done hearing about Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, because now we can focus on some of the guys like Vlad. He’s truly one of the greatest hitters of our generation, but he’s only played in Montreal (baseball purgatory) and Los Angeles (plays too late for most of the country to watch), so he’s gone largely unnoticed.

5. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees (.316)—Mr. Yankee, Mr. Clutch, Mr. Everything. Derek Jeter represents everything that is good about the game. He plays hard, he plays fair, he plays to win, and he consistently delivers.

6. Nomar Garciaparra, Los Angeles Dodgers (.314)—I don’t know about you, but it’s still odd to me seeing Nomar in anything but a Red Sox uniform. I sort of feel bad for the guy that he left Beantown right before the Sox won a World Series in 2004, but then again, maybe he’s like A-Rod. You know, for whatever reason, the team he’s on can’t seem to win.

7. Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox (.312)—“Manny being Manny” bas become a catch phrase that follows this animated player around, but it has meant different things over the years. Here, we’ll just pay homage to the fact that Manny can mash. Always has, probably always will. Dude is inching toward 500 homers and still has a career batting average of .312. That’s ridiculous.

8. Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers (.311)—After battling injuries for a couple of seasons, Ordonez has had a renaissance of sorts with the Tigers, helping them win the AL pennant in 2006, and then leading all of baseball with a .363 average in 2007.

9. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (.310)—Maybe Miguel Cabrera hasn’t figured out American League pitching yet, but he’s still hitting .310 for his career, and he’s only 25. I have a feeling this guy’s best is yet to come, and that there is an MVP Award in his future.

10. Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves (.309)—Chipper is the epitome of consistency, and he’s now in his fourteenth full season. And he gets better with age, having batted .337 last season, and currently at .415 through 45 games in 2008. And if you’re a Mets fan, you surely don’t want to hear his name.

Source: Baseball Reference