If you subscribe to the belief that a team is only as good as its weakest link, then you probably believe in the Milwaukee Brewers.

More specifically, you believe in their starting rotation.

Sure, there's All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy, all-world talent Carlos Gomez and former MVP Ryan Braun. Without those three, the Brewers would not be sitting 15 games above .500 and in first place of the National League Central.

But pitching is a difference maker, even for a team without a so-called game-changer on the mound.

Innings, and lots of 'em

Garza has a career-low 1.13 WHIP over 145 2/3 innings this year. (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)

Milwaukee's staff includes four starters who have logged over 145 innings this season - a claim only one other NL rotation (the Cincinnati Reds) can make.

That stat in itself doesn't precipitate success, until you consider all four pitchers (Matt Garza, Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse and Wily Peralta) have pitched to sub-3.60 ERAs thus far.

Still not impressed? That type of production from their rotation has resulted in a relief corps that has thrown the third-fewest innings in the NL and owns the third-lowest walks per nine rate. A rested bullpen is a good bullpen this time of year.

The Brewers have used a combination of Marco Estrada (127 1/3 innings), rookie Jimmy Nelson (3.86 ERA over 7 starts) and strikeout machine Mike Fiers (19 punchouts in two starts) out of the fifth spot in their rotation.

Don't forget about Braun

Aside from improved pitching performances from some of Milwaukee's starters, a trio of underrated acquisitions (Garza, Mark Reynolds and Gerardo Parra) and the emergence of Khris Davis, this roster isn't that different from the one that stumbled to a 74-88 record last season.

One major difference is the inclusion of Braun, the 2011 NL MVP and runner-up in 2012, who played just 61 games last season before serving a 65-game suspension for violating the league's drug program.

Braun has been hindered by injuries and his production, for the most part, has steadily declined with each passing month, but it would be foolish to dismiss his impact in the middle of the lineup.

Gomez and Lucroy drive this offense, but a healthy Braun and Aramis Ramirez give the Brewers one of the best hitting foursomes in baseball.

But are they for real?

Garza, Lohse and Braun are all banged up and injuries to key players at this juncture typically exposes holes at other positions. The disappointing play of Jean Segura is a concern as is the inability for Brewers first basemen to hit left-handed pitching.

But every team has its warts, especially in the NL Central. St. Louis is not the well-built machine it has been in the past and Pittsburgh probably doesn't have the arms to stay in the race. Cincinnati might have the best staff in the division, but its offense could be the worst among the four contenders.

After a down month in July (9-16), the Brewers appear back on track. Fate may well rest in their hands, with their final 15 games in 17 days coming against the division. The Brewers are 10-3 this year against the Pirates, but 18-20 against the rest of the Central.

At this point, it's anyone's game and the Brewers need their depth now more than ever.

Their sprint to the finish begins Tuesday night against Toronto. Fiers, filling in for Garza, takes the hill.

The 29-year-old right-hander struck out a career-high 14 in his last start. If the Brewers are indeed as good as their weakest link, there promises to be many more believers in this team before the year is over.