SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. • Stu Flesland III this season became the man, the myth and the mustache for the Hartford Yard Goats.
Now, as he works on his craft during the Arizona Fall League season pitching for the Salt River Rafters, the 26-year-old left-hander is looking to add velocity to an already impressive résumé that could pay dividends for the Rockies in the near future.
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Flesland pitched at three levels during the 2026 campaign, rising from High-A Spokane all the way to Triple-A Albuquerque, making 25 appearances, including 13 starts. However, most of his time was an impressive stint at Double-A, where he logged a 1.88 ERA in 86.0 innings and limited batters to a .209 average.
Flesland isn’t the kind of pitcher who will blow away batters, as evidenced by his 70 strikeouts in those 86.0 innings. He relies more on location and deception to get the job done through off-speed pitches, but the Rockies are hoping Flesland will add a few more ticks to his fastball this fall through a velocity program and time in Colorado’s pitching lab at Salt River.
“It’s feeling new movement patterns and being more efficient down the mound with how I set up already,” Flesland told The Denver Gazette inside the Rafters dugout on Monday. “It’s a little funky. I’m cleaning up a little bit of leg-lift stuff and then trying to get in my hips a little bit more, and then just more fluid down and linear down the mound towards the plate. It’s been going well. I’m feeling good and loving it.”
Rockies prospect Stu Flesland III logged a 1.88 ERA in 86 innings for the Hartford Yard Goats during an impressive 2026 season. (Photo courtesy of Hartford Yard Goats)
Heading into Monday, Flesland’s ERA during AFL action stood at 5.40 through his first 6.2 innings. However, as in spring training, incorporating new ideas on the mound can often lead to mistakes while learning.
Flesland knows that. While he wants the out, he has accepted that improving his arsenal will come with a few bumps along the road as well this fall.
“I’d say it’s a little bit of a tinkering right now, but between bullpens and the game, I try to keep those as separate as possible and just go out and compete,” Flesland said. “I don’t want to think about mechanics too much while I’m on the mound so that way it doesn’t get in the way of what I’m trying to do. I trust the work that I put in throughout the week that it’s all just going to start blending together and moving right.”
Chris Forbes, Colorado’s senior director of player development, is watching the development and progression in real time and sending Flesland a message that if he is putting in the work this fall, that matters more than the numbers.
“When I was down there recently, he had a rough outing with walks,” Forbes said. “But coming off the year he had, we’re OK with that.
“For a guy like this who is a heavy deception guy and someone who has some weapons to attack with, if we can add a couple of ticks on the fastball, I think that’s going to help things play off each other even better.”
An 11th-round pick of the Rockies in the 2023 MLB draft, Flesland is a native of Spokane and started the 2026 season there with the High-A Indians. He bounced between there and Triple-A Albuquerque before landing in Hartford in mid-May and finishing the campaign there, helping the Yard Goats get into the Eastern League playoffs.
Rockies prospect Stu Flesland III logged a 1.88 ERA in 86 innings for the Hartford Yard Goats during an impressive 2026 season. (Photo courtesy of Hartford Yard Goats)
Progressing three levels in the same season provides its own set of challenges but also learning opportunities.
“In my second outing in Triple-A, I was tipping my pitches a little bit, so they were figuring out what I was throwing before I even threw it. It was a lot harder to pitch that way,” Flesland said. “I talked to our Triple-A pitching coach (Craig Bjornson), and he let me know how to mix up my looks and how to come set. You can’t be the same guy every time, because that’s how they’re going to pick up tendencies and stuff on you.
“Taking that into Hartford and just being free and having that in my back pocket, knowing that that’s what teams are looking for, was helpful. I didn’t run into that problem again throughout the year.”
It’s been a year of change and learning for Flesland. That education is continuing in Arizona through the AFL’s conclusion on Nov. 14.
“What we’re getting out of the Fall League is probably more so laying the foundation for this velo training and rewarding a guy who actually had a phenomenal year,” Forbes said. “More importantly, we are getting him touchpoints with a different set of eyes in Arizona.”