2. Bob Gibson (1968)
Perhaps the greatest pitcher in Cardinals' history, Bob Gibson had his best season in 1968. Gibson helped lead the Cardinals to a World Series championship in 1967, and he followed up a World Series season with an MVP season of his own the very next season. Gibson played 17 seasons for the Cardinals altogether and pitched admirably in the playoffs throughout his career.
In 1968, Gibson had a 1.12 ERA (league-leading) and a 1.77 FIP (league-leading) across 304.2 innings. His 13 shutouts, 268 strikeouts, 0.853 WHIP, and 258 ERA+ also led the league. Simply put, Gibson was absolutely dominant that season. Gibson pitched through the 8th inning in 32 of his 34 starts, and he even sprinkled in 5 extra inning outings. He was a workhorse who shut down batters every game he pitched in.
Gibson led all of the majors in WAR that year for both pitchers and hitters. In addition to his league-leading ERA, FIP, and shutouts, Gibson finished the season second in WHIP and complete games and top-5 in strikeouts and innings.
In the playoffs that year, Gibson pitched in 3 games, all complete games. He gave up only 5 runs across 27 innings for a 1.67 ERA. He also struck out 35 batters and walked only 4. In that World Series, Gibson pitched in Games 1, 4, and 7. Despite the Cardinals losing the series, Gibson sure did his part to help the team win.