Utilizing the Pitch f/x technology, ESPN's Tom Haberstroh (insider only) talks about the statistically nasty pitches in baseball since the 2008 season when the system was launched. CC Sabathia's slider in 2008 ranks among the 3 nastiest, as does Mariano Rivera's cutter. Here's what he had to say about Mo:

This isn't a lifetime achievement award; Rivera's cutter is about as consistently good and destructive as any pitch anyone has seen. Somehow, the pitch has showed zero signs of age. The 92-to-94 mph cutter still treats lefties' bats like dry twigs with right-to-left movement suitable for a slider and velocity more appropriate for a fastball. It's not "see ball, hit ball" as much as it is "see ball, pretend ball exists four inches away, swing at air, hopefully hit ball." Simply put, the human brain cannot react quickly enough to adjust for the lateral movement. The pitch's most dominant stretch of the Pitch f/x era came in July of this past season, when Rivera threw the patented cutter 141 times and didn't give up a single hit, with only two balls leaving the infield.

Via Mike Axisa.