After posting a 5.27 ERA in April of 1974, Wood watched films of himself pitching and shortened his stride as a result. On May 7, he pitched 11 innings against the Tigers, striking out 10, allowing a career-low two hits, and winning when Ed Herrmann homered in the 11th for the only run of the game. A five-game win streak in May came to an end on the 25th when, after Wood had held the Royals to two runs for 13 innings, an error and two hits in the 14th led to a two-RBI double by Fran Healy that ended the longest outing of Wood's career. He was selected to the AL All-Star Team for the third time in his career, though he did not pitch in the All-Star Game. On July 13, he held the Tigers to three hits and one run, striking out seven in a 7–1 victory. He had an 18–13 record on August 10, but he went 2–6 over his final 10 starts, though his ERA (3.83) was not much higher over that span than it was for his whole year (3.60). On September 2, he defeated the Royals for his 20th win of the season, pitching 10 innings and retiring Orlando Cepeda on a groundout with the bases loaded to hang on to a 6–4 victory. Wood again led the AL in starts (42), though his innings pitched were topped by Ryan (), Fergie Jenkins (), and Perry (). His 20 wins ranked ninth in the AL, and his 19 losses were tied with four other pitchers for third (behind Lolich's 21 and Clyde Wright's 20). Wood completed 22 games (seventh in the AL) and struck out 169 hitters. During the years 1971–74, Wood averaged 45 games started and 347 innings pitched. He led the major leagues in wins (90) by two over Hunter, though he also led the majors with 69 losses.