This might be a different direction than you had in mind, but I believe all competitive online games should be played using Pure Analog hitting, exclusively. The button-pushing options definitely make it easier to hit certain pitches and pitchers. I think any button-pushing hitting mode should be considered casual or non-competitive, or something. Pure Analog is the purist expression of this game. All the little back-end development tweaks on the swing are based in that Pure Analog engine. Then code is added to make it work within a button pushing environment. (People seem to think that the God of Perfect Perfect just grants hits and HRs for good button pushes, but it all just comes down to programming).
Pure Analog is Pure Baseball. It takes time to figure out Pure Analog hitting and pitching (like, playing MULTIPLE seasons against other people).
Playing the computer can be fun, but it does not prepare you for the pitching you will face live. You also will not get away with some of the hits or hit as many homeruns as when pushing the button. But, the game feels much more fluid and more like a real baseball game. Much more like you are swinging a bat. And in the end, it's much more fun because of it. I wish there were events or tournies or something where everybody was on that same level playing field of using Pure Analog. Oh, and 102 mph sucks.