The value of the philosophical disciplines of logic and epistemology to empiricism and science is as self evident as the value of algebra and numbers to mathematics in that you can't have one without the other. Empiricism and science depend upon logic, reason, and a particular method of obtaining knowledge.

You're also conflating rigor with empiricism. It is possible to be rigorous and be a rationalist, a phenomenologist, a theologin, or an empiricist.