Yoan Moncada looked like he might be out a month or longer Saturday, when he writhed in agony on the dirt behind second base after a collision with the Royals’ Paulo Orlando. He not only played Sunday but flew around the bases on a ball he shot into the right-field corner, not stopping until third base.

Moncada flashed a wide smile standing on the bag and wore it again after the White Sox finished off a 10-1 victory over the Royals before 23,434 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

He’s built like an NFL running back and loves taking an extra base as much as anything he does.

Moncada went 3-for-4 in the final game before the All-Star break, with the biggest blow his first home run of the season as a right-handed hitter. One of his teammates gave him some good-natured grief by writing the name of Brazilian soccer star Neymar in big letters on a piece of tape, then sticking the tape above his locker.

“He’s known to be a player who likes to act when people touch him or he gets kicked,” Moncada said. “They were messing with me because of (Saturday’s) game.”

Moncada suffered only a bruised right knee, as it turned out, and was ready to go. The White Sox hope the pain they’ve felt throughout a 33-62 first half proves just as superficial in terms of constructing a contending team built to last.

Manager Rick Renteria pulled no punches when asked to grade the Sox’s play before the All-Star break.

“I think right now we’re at a D,” Renteria said. “There are things we continue to need to improve upon. That goes without saying. I’d say effort level is probably a B+ or an A.”

Renteria says the Sox’s injuries are no excuse. But James Shields says you also can’t assess the first half without considering the loss of 2017 All-Star Avisail Garcia to a pair of hamstring injuries, reliever Danny Farquhar to a life-threatening ruptured brain aneurysm and veteran starter Miguel Gonzalez to a season-ending shoulder surgery.

“Going into the season I thought we had a really, really solid team,” Shields said. “We had a lot of injuries. … We didn’t have our full squad all year, but we grinded this thing out the best we could and we’re hopefully going to have a good second half.”

Phil Rogers is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.