The 2nd baseman should absolutely be responsible for covering the bag at times. Why anyone thinks she shouldn't is absolutely beyond me. Here's a situation: Runner at first. Right handed power hitter up. Batter's team is down 4 to 1 with one out in the fifth inning. There is absolutely no chance that this girl will bunt. The shortstop should be playing closer to the hole than up the middle. The second baseman should have responsibility for the steal and should be cheating toward second not only for the steal, but also for the double play in the event that the batter hits a hard one-hopper to third or short. It's an absolute no-brainer; yet many coaches still insist that both the shortstop and the second baseman play totally out of position by having the shortstop cheating to cover for the steal-- and having the second baseman playing more toward first. D-U-M-B, dumb. Here's the thing: If your second baseman is so slow that she can't play 15 feet from second base and wait until the ball crosses home plate and still beat a runner who left from 60 feet away as the pitch was released, then she shouldn't be playing second base. By the same token, if she can't play 15 feet from second base and sprint to first base to cover the bag after seeing the batter shorten to bunt, and beat the batter, who has to bunt the ball and run 60 feet-- then she shouldn't play second base. The problem is not with the philosophy; the problem is that no one is coaching the players properly. It's really simple. The responsibility for covering second on the steal should change from batter to batter, from game situation to game situation. It could change from pitch to pitch. If you're coaching and you're not constantly changing the coverage depending on the batter, the score, the number of outs, the count, etc., then you're just not very good-- and you probably lose games because of it. If you're coaching and your players don't change the coverages themselves during the game depending on the score, the likelihood of the steal, the bunt, the fake bunt, etc., then you aren't educating your players enough during practice. Good, well-coached middle infielders should be able to adjust on the fly to surprise bunts, fake bunts and the like. Any coach who insists that the shortstop always covers on the steal is, well, not acting in the best interest of his team.