SQL Server Wildcardless LIKE Optimization
Most likely yes, if there are proper indexes in place and statistics are up to date, then the query optimizer should be able to use the existing indexes and best operation when possible (seek).
You will have detailed information in these 2 articles:
Index usage by %Like% operator – Query Tuning on MSDN and
SQL Performance - Indexes and the LIKE clause  on myitforum.com.