Fantasy baseball Pitching Report: Best pitchers of the first half

Clayton Kershaw's 1.98 ERA and 139 strikeouts make him the No. 1 starting pitcher in fantasy.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

• Joe Nathan, Texas Rangers -- With Mariano Rivera on his farewell tour, he'll hand off the Oldie-but-Goodie baton to Nathan after the season. At age 38, Nathan is as good as he has ever been. He has saved 30 games in 31 opportunities, striking out 42 batters in 39.2 innings. He has a 1.36 ERA and 2.43 FIP. The ERA would be a career best, and the FIP would be his best since he saved 44 games with the Twins in 2006. He leads all closers in ERA and, despite not having incredibly gaudy strikeout numbers for a closer, is deservedly ranked as the top closer in fantasy leagues.