Wilhelm continued to help Wood with his knuckleball in 1968 spring training, and White Sox pitching coach Marv Grissom convinced Wood to do away with his pitching windup. Wood had been reducing it since the previous year, but dispensing with it entirely allowed him to sneakily throw his fastball to hitters, making it a deceptive counterpart to the knuckleball. Struggles by Locker led to Stanky utilizing Wood at the end of games more often beginning in May. On June 23, he started the second game of a doubleheader against the Red Sox, holding Boston to one run in eight innings in a 10–1 win. He made one other start on August 10, allowing one earned run in six innings against the Indians, though an error by Duane Josephson led to two unearned runs scoring as well, and Wood took the loss in the 3–2 defeat. On September 1, he pitched the final five innings of a game against the Minnesota Twins, allowing just one run (a home run to Harmon Killebrew) as he picked up the victory in a 5–4 win. He set a major league record on September 21 with his 83rd appearance of the year. Wood finished the season with 88 games pitched, briefly a record until Wayne Granger appeared in 90 for the Cincinnati Reds the next year. As of 2020, his 88 games pitched ties him with four other relievers for 15th-most in a season. He had a 13–12 record (leading the White Sox in wins), a 1.87 ERA, 74 strikeouts, 33 walks, and 127 hits allowed in 159 innings pitched. Though the save would not become an official statistic until 1969, Wood was retroactively credited with 16, second in the American League (AL) to Al Worthington's 18. Wood also led the AL with 46 games finished. Sportswriter Jerome Holtzman said he was "sensational," and Stanky, dismissed partway through the season, said "he’s an amazing pitcher." "The Sporting News" named him its AL Fireman of the Year. Wood also finished 25th in AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting.