Jed Hoyer settled into his chair in the interview room beneath Wrigley Field, sporting a white dress shirt and a light blue sportcoat.

He spoke solemnly and softly as he reflected on the 2024 season in which the Cubs missed the playoffs for the 4th straight season.

It was a tone that conveyed Hoyer’s message, though he added a twinkle of positivity.

“When I think about our season and where we are, I’m disappointed but optimistic,” Hoyer said. “Anytime you set a goal for yourself and you fall short of that goal, there’s disappointment.

“From the top down, this year, the expectation was to play in the playoffs and we didn’t get there. And we have to be better to move beyond 83-79 two consecutive years.

That said, it wasn’t Hoyer’s only takeaway from the season, as he continued:

“But I’m really excited about next year,” Hoyer said. “We’re building from a really great foundation going forward and we need to get back to the postseason for these fans. That’s what the fans deserve and we’ll get there.”

[MORE: Cubs announce coaching changes, including the departure of Mike Napoli]

The Cubs last won a playoff game in 2017 and their last postseason appearance came in the shortened year in 2020.

In 2023, they finished just a game out of the final National League Wild-Card spot, but they were 6 games out of the last playoff spot this season.

Despite the record, there were several positive developments for the Cubs this season.

Shota Imanaga and Michael Busch — the top two offseason additions by Hoyer’s front office — had strong rookie seasons.

Pete Crow-Armstrong earned a role in the everyday lineup by midseason and showed his all-around potential at the big-league level in the second half.

The organization had several young pitchers come up and make an impact — Ben Brown, Porter Hodge, Jordan Wicks, Luke Little.

Yet October opened and the Cubs were focused on the offseason instead of playoffs.

“I think the general sense of the organization is everyone’s optimistic about our future,” Hoyer said. “We’ve put ourselves in terrific position but I think everyone’s disappointed in the way the season played out.

“We showed at times – for long stretches – that we’re a really good team but ultimately, it’s pretty binary. We’re not playing today; we’re having a press conference today.

“I think from [chairman Tom Ricketts] on down, there’s a level of disappointment in that. Of course there’s frustration. There should be frustration when you fall short of a goal that you set a year ago.”

[Watch the entire Hoyer end-of-season press conference on the Marquee Sports Network app]

Hoyer pointed to the team’s performance in May and June as a hole that proved to be too difficult to climb out of.

The Cubs finished April 18-12 but went 21-34 in May and June.

They began July off with a pair of losses, falling to a season-low 9 games under .500 at 39-48.

From July 4 on, the Cubs played good baseball, posting a .587 winning percentage (44-31) that would be a 95-win pace over a full season.

It just was too little, too late to save the season.

The teams ahead of the Cubs in the Wild-Card standings — Padres, Mets, Braves, Diamondbacks — all played well over the final 3 months of the season and didn’t allow much room for the Cubs to catch up.

In the division, the Brewers were strong from wire-to-wire, posting 93 wins and claiming the NL Central by 10 games.

“That’s a significant gap,” Hoyer said. “We have to double our efforts and work really hard to close that gap. … We’ve come a long way in the last 3 years but this year, being 10 games behind them, I think that makes you realize that we have room to go.

“I think that for everyone, it’s daunting. But also it’s exciting. We have room to go and work to do to catch those guys. They’re playing today. We’re not and we have to own that and we have to be better.”