Is Syndergaard's slider the best ever?

No one can figure out Noah Syndergaard.

In Monday's 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets' fireballer gave up one run over seven innings while striking out eight. He's been so dominant early this season, the start actually raised his ERA to 0.90.

It's no secret Syndergaard lights up the radar gun - flashing his fastball upwards of 100 mph. Fastballs, though, are hittable pitches because they tend to be relatively straight. It's his slider that wreaks havoc on opposing hitters.

No one in the majors throws a slider in the 94-95 mph range like he does, which the young righty didn't even know was possible.

When the Kansas City Royals saw him April 5, manager Ned Yost said "there's probably not a man on earth that can hit his 95 mph slider."

He might be right.

Syndergaard sits atop the majors in three velocity categories: Fastball (98.1), slider (92), and changeup (89.5). Entering Monday, he'd thrown the slider 39 times, with no one managing to record a hit off it, and punching out 10 batters in the process.

In terms of other arms that throw power sliders, no one's velocity comes close:

But what separates Syndergaard's slider from everyone else's is that it can be argued it's more of a cutter. In New York, though, they call it a "Warthen Slider," aptly named after Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen.

Of the 15 hitters leading up to Monday's tilt that had seen Syndergaard's slider, none were able to register a line drive. Not only that, but hitters struggled to make any hard contact, yet they keep swinging.

The scary part about all this is Syndergaard began throwing the slider exclusively this season. If he can maintain velocity and throw it for strikes, the 23-year-old may have discovered baseball's unhittable pitch.

(All stats courtesy Fangraphs)