Fantasy Baseball Sleepers 2012: Mediocre Pitchers Who Will Rack Up Wins

Sometimes things defy logic in sports, and that is especially true in baseball. A lot of things can happen over a 162-game season, and not all of them can be explained by statistics.

One of those things is the success of a pitcher. The stats can sometimes point to complete failure, yet that pitcher finds a way to win games.

Wins depend on a lot of things and they are truly hard to predict as they can stem from offensive support, easy matchups and any number of other things. Just because a pitcher wins games, it doesn't mean that he's good. He can just as easily be lucky.

Here are three fantasy pitchers who won't help you much in other categories, but are likely to rack up some victories this season. 

R.A. Dickey (NYM)

Make no bones about it, the New York Mets are going to be an abomination this season. With that said, they'll probably win about 60 games minimum and somebody is going to have to get credit for some of those wins. My money is going on knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. While Dickey is far from spectacular, he is a savvy veteran who is able to eat innings and keep his team in ballgames, even if he doesn't have overpowering stuff.

He has an ERA of around 3.00 in his two years with the Mets, which is solid, but he had a career-high 134 strikeouts last season, so he'll have to rely on his defense a lot. Dickey only has 19 wins over the past two seasons as he has had some tough luck, but he figures to remain in the rotation all year with a low probability of injury. Therefore, he stands a better chance than anybody to lead the team in wins.

Carl Pavano (MIN)

While you could say that Carl Pavano has revived his career since ending his nightmarish tenure with the New York Yankees, he certainly hasn't lived up to the once-lofty expectations bestowed upon him. Pavano has, for all intents and purposes, been the Minnesota Twins' ace over the past few seasons. While he wouldn't be much more than a No. 4 or No. 5 starter on a contending team, he has stayed healthy and eaten innings for the Twins.

Although he only won nine games last season, he triumphed 17 and 14 times in the previous two seasons respectively. He knows how to battle. Pavano isn't likely to have an ERA below 4.00, his WHIP is nothing to write home about and he isn't going to get you many strikeouts, but I would say that you can count on 12-15 wins this year. 

Tim Stauffer (SD)

Keeping with the theme of soft-throwing control pitchers, Tim Stauffer of the San Diego Padres figures to be the beneficiary of some victories this season. Stauffer finally got a chance to be a full-time starter last season and he was solid, keeping his ERA under 4.00. In a lot of ways, though, he was helped by Petco Park as the spacious confines are extremely pitcher friendly. His offensive support will be weak, but he may be the de facto ace of the staff.

The Padres' pitching staff and team as a whole is largely inexperienced, so Stauffer is going to be a tent pole for them. Regardless of how weak San Diego's roster may look, the Padres have found a way to win games and frustrate opponents over the past couple of years. Expect Stauffer to win some games, but not much else.