Every day he makes the imminent decision to deal Kevin Youkilis more credible.

Will Middlebrooks is the present, folks. He’s no longer the future.

Youkilis will soon be dealt to the Indians, White Sox, or Dodgers and Middlebrooks won’t be looking over his shoulder. Not that he has to peek much anyway. He stroked three hits Saturday night, including a double and home run, and knocked in two runs in Boston’s 8-4 win over Atlanta.

“I feel really comfortable seeing it early and seeing it long, just getting good pitches to hit and not missing them,’’ said the rookie third baseman, who has 33 RBIs in his first 40 games, the most since the Angels’ Wally Joyner had 38 through 40 games in 1986.

The Red Sox are as excited to have him as they were when Youkilis came on the scene as a 25-year-old third baseman. Youkilis made his debut May 15, 2004, against the Blue Jays in a 4-0 win and went 2 for 4 with a home run.

Youkilis, who hit seven homers and knocked in 35 runs with a .367 on-base percentage as a rookie, was nicknamed the “Greek God of Walks’’ by the A’s staff, heralding his on-base prowess.

After spending his rookie season at third base, Youkilis turned himself into a Gold Glove first baseman and All-Star. Youkilis was a good player here for a long time, part of two World Series championship teams.

Endings are never fun. They are usually messy in Boston and this one will be as well.

Eight years after Youkilis broke in, Middlebrooks doesn’t have to be concerned about all that. The organization’s plan for him was to be a September call-up. If he showed some promise, the Red Sox would likely have not picked up the $13 million option on Youkilis’s contract.

But Youkilis broke down and Middlebrooks, who was red hot at Pawtucket, got the call May 2 and stayed that way in the majors. He’s had rough spots - and he was almost sent back to Pawtucket at least twice - but he smoothed those over quickly.