It's not even about bottom 5, because let's face it, that's debatable. YOMI saying she's bottom 5 doesn't make that a permanent fact. It's about being able to keep up with the evolving meta of the game. She has 50/50s, albeit they're not the safest. She has evasion, (again not safe). She has a great armor move, (rinse and repeat). Her 1, 2, B2, and D1 were made faster. She kinda has some range. But the fact that she's both meter dependent AND risky to do this is really what keeps her on the low end. She may be bottom 5 or bottom 10, but she definitely has to work harder than many others. A lot of characters can turn games around for getting you to block one jump in and shoving block pressure down your throat.
I do expect her to get a couple buffs, but I don't think it'll be much more. I expect Reg Fade to be better somehow, I can see them maybe adjusting backdash, or possibly (but unlikely) doing armor on wakeup EX telekick. Outside of that, we just pray, lol.
I also wouldn't be surprised to see a system change of some kind after EVO. Maybe something to do with stamina/block breakers/etc
Also, I think people remember MK9 Mileena differently than I do.. Remember, MK9 Mileena was called top 3 by Tom Brady after EVO 2011. Once the frame data was found not even a year later... people said she was in the bottom half of the roster for the simple fact that she had no armor and bad hit frames in a game about pressure. Sonya was the new Mileena.